Torgeir Tarjei Olavsson Vraa (16 May 1868 – 21 June 1934) was a Norwegian educator, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party.

Biography

He was born on the Rui farm in the parish of Fyresdal in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

. Upon graduating from Asker Seminary in 1889, he was hired as a school teacher in Modum. He married Maren Sofie Hansen (1870–1935) in October 1892. Vraa joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, where Christopher Hornsrud was a leading figure on the left wing, but in 1897, the two joined the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

. From 1902 to 1904, he was a journalist in the Labour Party newspaper ''

Social-Demokraten ''Social-Demokraten'' () was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newspaper, belonging to the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The paper was founded in 1885 by Axel Danielsson and August Palm. Palm also edited the paper from 1885 to 1886. Another ...

'' 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 ...

(now Oslo). From 17 May 1905, he was the first editor-in-chief of the newly established Labour Party newspaper '' Fremtiden'' in Drammen, where he contributed to defining local journalism as a genre. Vraa was elected to 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 ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

for the constituency ''Strømsø og Tangen''. He prevailed in the second round of voting, having won the endorsement from the local Liberals who pulled their candidate. He was a member of the Protocol Committee. In the next election in 1909 he lost this support and was not re-elected. He instead served as deputy mayor of Drammen from 1910 to 1913. In total, he was a city council member from 1910 to 1919 and 1922 to 1928. He was also county chairman for a period, and national board member from 1904 to 1912 and 1918 to 1920. He did not join any splinter party in 1921 to 1923, but stayed in the Labour Party, and gained a parliamentary seat in the elections 1924 and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

, representing the constituency Market towns of Buskerud county (Drammen, Hønefoss and Kongsberg). For both terms he was a member of the Standing Committee on Forestry and Waterways. He died in Drammen and was editor-in-chief until his death. The collected writings were published posthumously in 1936.

Legacy

A statue of him by Dyre Vaa was raised at Gamle Kirkeplass in Drammen during 1936. Streets or squares have also been named after him including Torgeir Vraas plass in Drammen and Torgeir Vraas plass in

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vraa, Torgeir 1868 births 1934 deaths People from Fyresdal Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian educators Norwegian newspaper editors Politicians from Drammen Members of the Storting 1925–1927 Members of the Storting 1931–1933