Rolf Thommessen (22 July 1879 – 9 December 1939) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor and politician. He edited the newspaper ''

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Th ...

'' from 1917 to 1938. He was a member of the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from 1928 to 1930, representing the

Liberal Left Party The Free-minded Liberal Party () was a political party in Norway founded in 1909 by the conservative-liberal faction of the Liberal Party. The party cooperated closely with the Conservative Party and participated in several short-lived governme ...

().

Personal life

Rolf Thommessen was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

as the son of newspaper editor

Ola Thommessen Ola Thommessen (23 September 1851 – 10 February 1942) was a Norway, Norwegian newspaper editor. He was the long-time editor of ''Verdens Gang (1868-1923 newspaper), Verdens Gang'' and ''Tidens Tegn''. Early and personal life Olaus Anthon ...

(1851–1942) and his wife Helga Mathæa Clausen (1854–1931). He was a first cousin of

Øystein Thommessen Øystein Thommessen (31 October 1890 – 1986) was a Norwegian lawyer. He was born in Kristiania as a son of Jakob Peter Thommessen and Maja Johannessen. He was a nephew of Ola Thommessen and a first cousin of Rolf Thommessen. In April 1924 in K ...

and a granduncle of musician Olav Anton Thommessen. He was married to Anne Dobloug, daughter of Mikkel Dobloug, between 1900 and 1938. He lived in

Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...

and

Evje Evje is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until 1960. It was located in what is now the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Evje og Hornnes in the Setesdal valley of ...

most of his life, and in

Risør is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Ri ...

for a period before his death. He died in Oslo in 1939. For some time he owned the sailing yacht ''

Wyvern The wyvern ( ), sometimes spelled wivern ( ), is a type of mythical dragon with bipedalism, two legs, two wings, and often a pointed tail. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools an ...

'' (launched in 1897), which he renamed ''Havfruen'' ("the

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

").

Professional career

Art historian

Thommessen finished his secondary education in 1897. He then studied

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, under

Lorentz Dietrichson Lorentz Henrik Segelcke Dietrichson (1 January 1834 Bergen - 6 March 1917) was a Norwegian poet and historian of art and literature. Biography Lorentz Henrik Segelcke Dietrichson was the son of Fredrik Dietrichson (1800–52) and Marie Heiber ...

, and at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

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 ...

. He worked as an art critic for the newspaper edited by his father, ''

Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...

'', from 1901 to 1910. He received the

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree from the University of Kristiania in 1908, with the thesis ''Kunstneren i den græske kunst'', about Greek art. He issued several books on art history, and worked as an assistant at the Museum of History from 1908 to 1910 and as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the university from 1909 to 1910.

Newspaper editor

When Thommessen's father founded the newspaper ''

'' in 1910, Thommessen joined as editorial secretary, as co-editor from 1915, and took over as editor-in-chief from 1917. He edited the newspaper until 1938, and was also chairman of the board. ''Tidens Tegn'' was one of the largest newspapers in Norway in the 1920s, with many influential contributors. Due to the political developments, however, ''Tidens Tegn'' lost its popularity during the 1930s. In 1938 Thommessen was forced to resign as editor, and sell his shares.

Politics and organisations

Thommessen chaired ''Norsk Luftseiladsforening'' from 1925 to 1926, and was an important supporter of

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

's polar expeditions. He was also a board member of the

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery () is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. History It was established in 1842 following a parliamentary decision from 1836. Originally lo ...

from 1904 to 1908, and of 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 1910 to 1918. He was elected to the

in 1927, representing the constituency

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

and the

. He was vice mayor of

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

from 1929 to 1931. From 1933 he chaired his party, but the Liberal Left Party soon faded away. He was decorated with the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

. A road in Evje in Bærum was named after him in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thommessen, Rolf 1879 births 1939 deaths Writers from Oslo Norwegian art historians University of Oslo alumni Norwegian newspaper editors Members of the Storting 1928–1930 Free-minded Liberal Party politicians Bærum politicians