Per Monsen (4 May 1913 – 26 August 1985) was a Norwegian editor. He was an editor in ''

Arbeiderbladet is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. Eirik Hoff Lys ...

'' from 1952 to 1964 and 1968 to 1970, director of the

International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia Universit ...

from 1964 to 1968 and editor-in-chief of the

Norwegian News Agency The Norwegian News Agency (; abbreviated NTB) is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves most of the largest Norwegian media outlets. The agency is located in Oslo and has bureaus in Brussels in Belgium and Tromsø in northern Norw ...

from 1970 to 1980.

Personal life

He was born in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

as a son of politician Fredrik Monsen (1878–1954) and teacher Aasta Ingerø Hansen (1884–1962). He was a brother of Randi Monsen, and through another sister he was a brother-in-law of

Halvard Lange Halvard Manthey Lange (16 September 1902 – 19 May 1970) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1946-1963 and again from 1963-1965. He was also the longest serving Foreign Minister to date, h ...

. He was also an uncle of Even Lange. Himself, he was first married to

Olav Scheflo Olav Andreas Scheflo (9 September 1883 – 25 June 1943) was a Norwegian Communist politician and journalist. Party activities Scheflo was a member of the Norwegian Labour Party from 1905. After the October Revolution he fought hard to convin ...

's daughter Beret Scheflo (1917–1981) from 1941 to 1950. He was then married to Poppi Tichauer Krogvig from 1952.

Career

He finished his secondary education in 1932, and then began a journalist career. He started out in the newspaper ''

Sørlandet Southern Norway (; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical List of regions of Norway, region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function ...

'' under editor-in-chief Olav Scheflo, his future father-in-law. Monsen was a correspondent in 1937 during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Monsen then worked in ''

Bergens Arbeiderblad ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage. ...

'' from 1937 to 1939, and in the labour movement's main newspaper ''

'' from 1939 to 1941. In 1940 the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

had begun, and Monsen was a member of the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

. He was imprisoned in

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway, where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This ...

from 1 December 1940 to 19 May 1941. After his release he fled to Sweden, where he worked in the information service for Norwegian authorities-in-exile. From 1943 to 1945 he worked out of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where the government-in-exile was seated. He returned to ''Arbeiderbladet'' in 1945. He served as acting press attaché for Norway in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from 1948 to 1949, but returned to ''Arbeiderbladet'' again. In 1952 he was promoted to editor. He remained here until 1970, except for a period from 1964 to 1968 when he was the director of the

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. From 1970 to 1980 he was the editor-in-chief of the

. He also chaired the

Norwegian Press Association The Norwegian Press Association (; NP) is a Norwegian association for organizations and companies of the news media. History The Norwegian Press Association was established in 1910 for people with journalism as their main profession. its member ...

from 1954 to 1958. In the Labour Party, to which the newspaper ''Arbeiderbladet'' belonged, Monsen was known as a "hardliner" in foreign and security policy. His brother-in-law Halvard Lange served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1945 to 1965, and was a proponent for a pro-American policy in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Monsen also supported anti-communists like

Haakon Lie Haakon Steen Lie (22 September 1905 – 25 May 2009) was a Norwegian politician who served as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he became involved in the labour movement at an early ag ...

. In 1963 the Labour Party was about to elect a new editor-in-chief of ''Arbeiderbladet''. The editor who was about to step down,

Olav Larssen Olav Larssen (10 July 1894 – 5 July 1981) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party (Norway), Labour and Communist Party of Norway, Communist parties. Personal life Olav Larssen was born in Furnes, Norway, Furnes as ...

, wanted Monsen. Larssen had also worked with Per Monsen's father in '' Demokraten'' from 1913 to 1916. On the other hand,

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1945 to 1951, 1955 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965. With a total of 16 years in office, he is the longest serving Pri ...

was against the election of Monsen as editor-in-chief of ''Arbeiderbladet'' in 1963, and Monsen was not elected.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsen, Per 1913 births 1985 deaths People from Hamar Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian expatriates in England Norwegian expatriates in West Germany Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian anti-communists 20th-century Norwegian writers