Thorstein Diesen Halvor Thorstein Romdal Diesen (7 December 1862 – 4 September 1925) was a Norwegian barrister, newspaper editor and politician for the Conservative Party.

Personal life

He was born in Christiania as a son of Søren Diesen (1816–97) and Maren S. Hellerud (1822–1903). In March 1896 in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

he married shipmaster's daughter Barbara "Baby" Matzau Gjerding (1874–1933). They had six children, among them the sons Halvor and Einar Diesen who both followed in his footsteps in the press. Through his twin brother, the vicar Søren Einar Munch Diesen, he was an uncle of the television people Thorstein Diesen, Jr. and granduncle of

Erik Diesen Erik Tangevald Diesen (8 October 1922 – 13 September 1999) was a Norwegian revue writer and radio and television personality. Personal life Born in Kristiania on 8 October 1922, Diesen was a son of Thorstein Diesen, Jr. (1894–1962) and ...

Career

He grew up in

Enerhaugen Enerhaugen is today a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway which among others includes six apartment buildings on Tøyen in the borough of Gamle Oslo, located north of the neighborhood of Grønland, Oslo, Grønland. The site is located on a hill just so ...

, finished his secondary education in 1881 and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

with the

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1886. He served as deputy judge in Voss and Hardanger from 1888 to 1890, and then worked as the editor-in-chief of ''

Bergens Aftenblad was a Norwegian daily newspaper, published in Bergen, Norway from 1880 to 1942. History and profile The paper was started in 1880, and absorbed the long-running in 1889. The Nazis took over the paper in January 1942 and closed it on 21 April 1 ...

'' from 1890 to 1898. He had worked part-time as a copyeditor and journalist in ''Fædrelandet'' during his studies, and was more inclined to work on a newspaper desk than as a jurist. In 1898 Diesen was hired by

Emil Stang Emil Stang (14 June 1834 – 4 July 1912) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He served as the prime minister of Norway from 1889–1891 and again from 1893–1895. He also served as the first leader of the Conservative Party from 1884–188 ...

as the secretary-general of the Conservative Party. When Stang withdrew as leader in 1899, Diesen followed suit and was hired as political editor 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 remained for a year. With both

Yngvar Nielsen Yngvar Nielsen (29 July 1843, Arendal, Aust-Agder – 2 March 1916) was a Norwegian historian, politician, geographer and pioneer of tourism in Norway. Background Nielsen was born in Arendal, Aust-Agder. He was the son of Norwegian Telegrap ...

and

Frederik Bætzmann Samuel Frederik Bætzmann (16 October 1841 – 2 May 1913) was a Norwegian journalist, foreign correspondent and editor. Bætzmann was born in Trondheim. His father, Samuel Severin Bætzmann (1800–1859), was mayor of Trondheim and served as a ...

in the political section of the newspaper, it was not enough room for the three. From 1900 Diesen instead returned to the law profession, working as an attorney in a law firm with

Otto Bahr Halvorsen Otto Bahr Halvorsen (28 May 1872 – 23 May 1923) was a Norwegian lawyer and politician from the Conservative Party, who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1920 to 1921 and again in 1923 up until his death in office. Background Hal ...

. From 1904 he was a barrister with access to working with Supreme Court cases. The family settled in Aker, where Diesen was selected to the school board and elected to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

. He also founded the local newspaper ''

Akersposten As the capital of Norway, Oslo holds the headquarters of most national newspapers in Norway. On the other hand, there have been discussions on the lack of local newspapers covering the communities and day-to-day affairs of the boroughs of Oslo. At ...

'' in 1901, editing it until 1908. Diesen returned to ''Aftenposten'' and the political editor chair in 1908. When the editor-in-chief died in 1913, Diesen became co-editor-in-chief together with Ola Christofersen. Christofersen almost never wrote in the paper, but handled practical affairs. He was more of a pecuniary strategist than the politically inclined Diesen. Diesen's editorials were signed by a hammer, and were noted as being written in a popular, not always academic, style. He also released political pamphlets and books. Diesen remained editor-in-chief until his death while vacationing at

Larkollen Larkollen is a village in Moss municipality, Norway. Its population is 1,382. About Larkollen has a coastal landscape with water-washed rocks, coves and small wooded hills, and a cultural landscape just behind the coastal line. The lee side of ...

in September 1925. He also chaired the

Norwegian Students' Society Norwegian Students' Society () is Norway's oldest student society. The Norwegian Students' Society was established during 1813 in Oslo, Norway. Two years after the Royal Frederick University (today named the University of Oslo) was founded, 18 of ...

in 1900, and chaired the

Conservative Press Association The Conservative Press Association (; shortened DKPF) was a Norwegian media institution whose stated objective was the furtherance of conservative daily newspapers. Amongst its members were editors, journalists, publishers and businesspeople who w ...

from 1910 to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diesen, Thorstein 1862 births 1925 deaths Lawyers from Oslo Norwegian twins University of Oslo alumni Journalists from Oslo Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian non-fiction writers Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Aker Aftenposten editors