Sven Oftedal

Sven Oftedal at the congress of the Workers Ungdomsfylking (AUF) on September 8, 1946

Sven Oftedal (born June 3, 1905 in Stavanger , Fylke Rogaland , † June 23, 1948 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian doctor and politician of the Arbeiderpartiet , who dealt with the social issue both as a doctor and as a politician and during his four-year imprisonment after the German occupation of Norway by the Weser Exercise company in the Second World War, he stood up for his fellow prisoners despite his own health problems.

After the end of the war he became a member of the Storting in 1945 and was Minister of Social Affairs in the first and second government of Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen from 1945 until his death . As Minister of Social Affairs, he campaigned for better legislation to ensure social security for children.

Life

Family origins and ancestors

Oftedal came from a left-wing liberal family, whose ancestors played a key role in the work of the Bethanien Foundation and the establishment of the daily newspapers Vestlandsposten and Stavanger Aftenblad . He was the son of the journalist and politician Lars Oftedal and his wife Alice Stephansen. His father was trade minister and social minister twice, as well as a member of the Storting for the left-liberal Venstre .

His grandfather, Lars Oftedal, was the Moderate Venstre, who was also a long-time member of the Storting and was involved as a priest for the Awakening Movement and Inner Mission in Norway. His great-uncle Sven Oftedal was also a well-known theologian who worked in the USA and wrote numerous theological books.

His younger brother was the journalist Christian S. Oftedal , who was also a member of the Storting for the Venstre between 1945 and 1949 and was at times a vice member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee .

Medical degree and doctor

After graduating from Kongsgård skole , the cathedral school in Stavanger, Oftedal began studying medicine at the University of Oslo in 1923 . At that time, his father was a member of Storting and a minister, so that in some cases he also followed the sessions in parliament as a listener. However, he was less interested in the politics of the left-liberal Venstre, but because of its strong interest in the social question for the labor movement , he that in 1927 first as a member of the youth organization of the Arbeiderpartiet ON ( Workers' Youth League ) was where he whose chairman Halvard Lange met who, like him, was committed to pacifism and conscientious objection . As a student, he was also secretary of the Association for Public Health and editor of its association magazine and began early on with his commitment to disease prevention and health promotion in order to improve health care for the population. On November 15, 1929 he married Laura Philippa Merete "Mette" Ziesler, daughter of the pediatrician Ernst Hadeler Ziesler and his wife Laura Vita Maria Tretow-Loof.

Oftedal completed his medical studies in 1930 and, after completing his medical internship, opened a general practice in 1933 in the eastern part of Stavanger, where hardship and unemployment were great. He earned a reputation not only for providing medical care to his patients, but also for providing financial support. Together with his wife, he was also involved in the Frisinn abstinence movement and was of the opinion that sensible youth and leisure activities would make alcohol consumption superfluous.

Local politician, World War II and inmate of Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Oftedal began his political career in local politics when he was elected member of the City Council (Bystyre) of Stavanger in 1934 with the best vote . There he dealt with social issues such as better housing, public baths, leisure and vacation opportunities. He called for a social organization of leisure time and the establishment of a holiday and leisure fund financed by health insurance in order to expand public health policy towards the welfare state.

Convinced of his political ideas, he also renounced his parents' inheritance and the interest from his shares in Stavanger Aftenblad . In the period before the Second World War he expressed his clear opposition to fascism and became the head of the local Spain committee and chairman of the Stavanger department of the Norwegian People's Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp) .

After the German occupation of Norway by the Weser Exercise Company, Oftedal was arrested for the first time in the spring of 1941 and imprisoned in the Grini police detention center . After his release at the end of 1940 he was free for nine months before he was arrested again in autumn 1942 and taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp . He organized medical care in both the Grini police prison camp and in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and worked tirelessly to save the life and health of his fellow prisoners. His political influence increased through the contacts there. His fellow prisoners in Sachsenhausen concentration camp included Einar Gerhardsen, his childhood friend Halvard Lange, Gustav Natvig-Pedersen and other politicians from the Labor Party, who played central roles in the reconstruction of Norway after the Second World War, as well as Johan Strand Johansen , a later Storting member and minister the Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP).

Minister and Storting Member

Statue of Sven Oftedal in his native Stavanger

After his release from concentration camp imprisonment and his return to Norway, Oftedal became Minister of Social Affairs (Sosialminister) in the first government of Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen on June 25, 1945 . He also held this position in the all-party government (Samlingsregjeringen) in the second Gerhardsen government until his death on June 23, 1948.

As a minister in the first post-war years, he was the driving force behind the orientation of the social system, so that his state secretary Knut Getz Wold compared him with the former minister of justice, trade and social affairs Johan Castberg . Oftedal introduced a child benefit law that came into force in 1946. Furthermore, the vacation entitlement was extended to three weeks in 1947. His most important contribution was the White Paper for a People's Insurance (Folketrygden) in 1948, which, however, did not come into force until January 1, 1967 and formed the foundation for the welfare state. As Minister of Social Affairs, he was also responsible for the health system and was largely responsible for the expansion and modernization of the Rikshospitalet . In addition, he advocated the expansion of research.

Oftedal suffered a myocardial infarction on May 18, 1948 , from the consequences of which he died five weeks later on June 23, 1948 at the age of 43. The previous minister without portfolio Aaslaug Aasland took over the post of minister for social affairs from the sick Sven Oftedal on May 18, 1948 and was finally officially appointed minister of social affairs on December 20, 1948. At the initiative of Prime Minister Gerhardsen, the widow and the surviving dependents were awarded a pension and an honorary salary by resolution of the Storting. Two years after his death, a statue was erected in his hometown of Stavanger.

Publications

• Kvinne and Mann. Veiledning i seksuelle spørsmål. Translation by Max Hodann , 1934.
• with Einar Gerhardsen and Erik Brofoss : Gjenreising, priser og levestandard. 3 foredrag på fagkongressen 1946. 1946.
• Til norsk ungdom. Et minneskrift. 1949.

Background literature

• I. Molaug: Det siste ord blir aldri says. Tre enere og en avis. 1968.
• E. Bull, A. Kokkvoll, J. Sverdrup (eds.): Arbeiderbevegelsens historie i Norge : Volume 5: T. Bergh: Storhetstid (1945-1965). 1987; Volume 4: T. Pryser: Klassen og nasjonen (1935-1946). 1988.
• A. Aadnøy: Advices and menneskene. Stavanger Aftenblad 100 år. Stavanger 1993.
• A.-L. Seip: Veiene til velferdsstaten. Norsk sosialpolitikk 1920–75. 1994.

Web links

• Biography on the Storting homepage
• Biography in the Norsk biografisk leksikon
• Biography in the store norske leksikon

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography of Lars Oftedal (1877–1932)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the Norsk biografisk leksikon  
2. ↑ Biography of Lars Oftedal (1838–1900)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the Norsk biografisk leksikon  
3. ↑ Biography of Sven Oftedal (1844–1911) in Norsk biografisk leksikon
4. ^ Biography of Christian S. Oftedal in the Norsk biografisk leksikon
5. ^ The Norwegian Nobel Committee 1901–2014 on the Nobel Prize homepage
6. ^ Norwegian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Councilor of State 1846 -
7. ↑ Johan Castberg was directly or indirectly responsible for several reforms of the social legislation such as the accident insurance for fishermen 1908, the health insurance laws of 1909 and 1915, the works supervision law of 1909, the accident insurance for seafarers in 1911 and for industrial workers in 1915 and the law on safety equipment in 1915. Furthermore he created the Castbergske barnelover , named after him and which came into force in 1916 , a law that gave illegitimate children a right to inheritance and the right to be named after their father.