Sverre Mitsem (1907–2004) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor and article writer. He is known as editor-in-chief of ''

Tønsbergs Blad ''Tønsbergs Blad'' is a local newspaper published in Tønsberg, Norway. The newspaper was founded by printer Hans Jørgen Magnus Hansen on 3 August 1870, with an initial circulation of 210 copies. By the turn of the century the circulation had g ...

'' from 1954 to 1977 (until 1963 joint with

Realph Norland Realph Immanuel Ottesen Norland (30 August 1903 – 5 October 1963) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Conservative Party, best known as editor-in-chief of ''Tønsbergs Blad''. Career He was born in Bergen to pharmacist J. No ...

) and for the column "SORRY" in ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'', which he wrote from 1946 to 1996.

Career

He was born in

Glemmen Glemmen is a parish and former municipality with the city of Fredrikstad, Østfold county, Norway. History The parish of ''Glemminge'' was established as a municipality 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). A part of Glemmen with 2,013 inhab ...

, and had his first journalist job in '' Fredriksstad Blad.''. He later travelled to Kristiania to study, but instead started working in ''Norges Fremtid''. He then worked as a journalist with ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' between 1936 and 1941. These two publications were located on the authoritarian right wing politically; ''ABC'' had ties to Fedrelandslaget, whereas ''Tidens Tegn'' was a former party organ of the Liberal People's Party (''Frisinnede Folkeparti''). In the summer of 1940, Mitsem also participated in radio broadcasts in the Nazi-controlled

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

. ''Tidens Tegn'' was permanently discontinued in 1941 because of the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, but in 1942 Mitsem was asked by

to work in the newspaper ''

'', which had ties to the Conservative Party. He began working there in 1945 when World War II was over. In 1954 he was promoted to co-editor alongside Norland, and when Norland died in 1963 Mitsem became the sole editor-in-chief. He retired in 1977. Mitsem reached out to an even larger audience with the column "SORRY e. Trollhaugens Tass" in ''

'', which was Norway's largest circulated newspaper until 1981. He was contacted by their news editor P. Chr. Andersen in October 1945, who wanted a daily column with humorous and satirical tidbits. The column took the shape of an eponymous

cocker spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel, both of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, ...

; the dog figure was chosen from a series of candidates presented by

Egil Meidell Hopp Egil Meidell Hopp (6 October 1898 – 9 November 1972) was a Norwegian journalist and intelligence agent. He was born in Bergen, a son of Kristian Hopp and Anna Christine Meidell. He was a brother of Einar Meidell Hopp. He finished his sec ...

. Mitsem continued the column long after his retirement, and quit in 1996 after fifty years. He was nearing his 89th birthday at that time. The column was carried on by others. Mitsem was also a theatre critic for Høyres Pressebyrå, which delivered articles to a large number of conservative newspapers. He also wrote petit articles in ''Tønsbergs Blad'' under the pseudonym "Gambrinius", and in ''Tidens Tegn'' under the pseudonym "Andriksen". Many articles were published as books. He was also a member of the board of Høyres Pressebyrå. He was active in the

Riksmål Society Riksmålsforbundet (; official translation: "The Riksmaal Society - The Society for the Preservation of Traditional Standard Norwegian") is the main organisation for Riksmål, an unofficial variety of the Norwegian language, based on the official ...

, and won their award "The Golden Pen". In 1970 he won the

Narvesen Prize The Narvesen Prize was a Norwegian prize for those who excelled in journalism. It was established in 1954 by the company Narvesen, but the Norwegian Press Association was behind the selection of winners. It was discontinued in 1990. List of winne ...

for journalism. He died in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsem, Sverre 1907 births 2004 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian columnists Norwegian satirists Norwegian satirical columnists Writers from Fredrikstad