Reinert Torgeirson (7 December 1884 – 30 November 1969) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

parties. He was also an active poet, playwright and novelist.

Biography

Torgeirson was born in

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

, Norway. He was a member of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

in his youth. He was a journalist in ''

Ny Tid ''Ny Tid'' (English: ''Modern Times Review'') is Norway's largest international quarterly review of non-fiction books – up to 50 in each issue. It is currently owned by Ny Tid & Orientering AS. ''Ny Tid'' is headed by the newspaper founder ...

'' from 1910 to 1915, manager in Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund from 1915 to 1918, and director of the Labour Party publishing house Det Norske Arbeiderpartis Forlag from 1919 to 1923. For a period Torgeirson was the acting editor of '' Indtrøndelagens Socialdemokrat'', from the arrest of editor Alfred Kruse to November 1914. A handbook in organizational work he wrote together with Arvid G. Hansen, ''Haandbog i lags- og studiearbeidet'' (1916) was the first handbook of its kind. He was also a deputy member of the Labour Party's national board from 1918. In 1923, Torgeirson broke away from the Labour Party, joining the Communist Party. From 1924 to 1925, he edited ''

Møre Arbeiderblad Møre is the name of two traditional districts in different parts of Scandinavia. *Møre og Romsdal, Norway *Möre, Sweden See also *Møre (newspaper) ''Møre'' () is a local Norwegian newspaper published once a week in Møre og Romsdal county. ...

'', and then '' Glomdalens Arbeiderblad'' in 1925 and ''

Arbeidet ''Arbeidet'' ("The Work") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Bergen in Hordaland county. History and profile ''Arbeidet'' was started in Bergen as a socialist newspaper on 6 December 1893, by a grouping called . It was the first socialist ...

'' from 1925 to 1929. From 1929 to 1930 he studied in the Soviet Union. From 1931 to 1932, Torgeirson edited '' Arbeideren''. He then worked as a journalist in '' Arbeidermagasinet'' while working as a

theatre critic Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas the ...

for ''Arbeideren''. He resigned his membership in the Communist Party in 1937. Torgeirson was an active writer outside of the press. He published the poetry collections ''Under rødt flagg'' in 1915 and ''Digte'' in 1920. In 1919 and 1920, Torgeirson selected poems for a two-volume collection named ''Frihetsdigte''. He later turned to writing plays, mainly meant to be staged by young laborers: ''Den store leveransen'' (1923), ''Per Brått'' (1931), ''Stener for brød'' (1932), 'Arbeidar og bonde'' (1934) and ''Jonsokfest'' (1938). Torgeirson also wrote novels, including ''Byen brenner!'' (1945). He also released two history books, ''Folketeaterforeningen gjennom 25 år'' (1954) and ''Norsk kafeforbund gjennom 30 år'' (1965). Torgeirson died in 1969, and is buried on Østre gravlund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torgeirson, Reinert 1884 births 1969 deaths Politicians from Ålesund Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian book publishers (people) Norwegian theatre critics Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian male novelists Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian male non-fiction writers