Leif Vetlesen (7 August 1921 – 18 May 2003) was a Norwegian sailor, political worker, organizational worker and writer.
He was born in Kristiania as a son of engineer Alf Vetlesen (1878–1963) and teacher Aagot Bugge (1881–1967). He was a great-grandson of Frederik Moltke Bugge. He finished his secondary education at Oslo Cathedral School in 1939, and then went to sea. He was going to return to land after one year, but when Norway was involved in World War II in April 1940, their merchant fleet became a crucial asset in the war and Vetlesen stayed. He worked at sea for several years, but while hospitalized with jaundice in Cardiff, he became involved with the British Communist Party. As he became known as a good speaker, he was hired in the trade union Norwegian Seafarers' Union in 1944. [1]
Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040 as Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence, and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 it functioned as a co-official capital. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in the king's honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. The city's name was spelled Kristiania between 1877 and 1897 by state and municipal authorities. In 1925 the city was renamed Oslo.
Frederik Moltke Bugge was a Norwegian philologist and educator.
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630. The University of Copenhagen was the only university of Denmark-Norway until The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was founded in 1811.
After the war he launched a campaign for better treatment of war sailors, but his agitation led to him being fired from the union in 1947. In 1949 he was also excluded from the Young Communist League of Norway. His marriage since 1943 to Lorna Dilys Peaty also ended in 1949; in 1951 he married Vesla Gunvor Hansen. After the Soviet invasion of Hungary he renounced Communism and joined the Norwegian Labour Party together with his wife. [1]
The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company in the world. It made a major contribution to the Allied war effort.
The Young Communist League of Norway was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP). 1 April 2006 NKP declared that NKU was no longer its youth organization, and that all youths interested in joining the movement should contact the party directly. NKU still persisted as an organization, however, and held a congress in the middle of May 2006, where it declared its wish to cooperate with NKP, but also to continue on its own if necessary. At the same time NKP organized a conference of their own, where they established a new youth organization for the party, with the same name and logo as the original NKU. This has led to a conflict over the rights to the name, logo, history, international contacts and property of NKU, which lasted until July 2008. The conflict ended in court, where both NKU and NKP was found responsible for the problems that had arisen. However, it was decided that NKU still had the right to their name and logo. Therefore, NKP's re-established version of the Youth League, which had taken up several new members since 2006 had to change its name from Young Communist League of Norway to Youth Communists in Norway and also change their logo. UngKom took over for NKU as NKP's youth league and view themselves as an incarnation of NKU.
Vesla Gunvor Vetlesen, née Hansen is a Norwegian weaver, trade unionist, writer and politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of International Development from 1986 to 1988.
Vetlesen held various jobs, both as a manual worker and electoral campaigner for the Labour Party, before being hired as information director in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. [1] He remained here until 1982 except for three years from 1968 to 1971 in Uganda. From 1982 to 1985 he was secretary-general of Amnesty International Norway. [2] His wife was a government minister from 1986 to 1988. [3]
Not to be confused with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also abbreviated NORAD.
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.
Amnesty International is a London-based non-governmental organization focused on human rights. The organization says it has more than seven million members and supporters around the world.
Vetlesen's former work for war sailors was taken up by Thore Horve during the 1960s, and led to an ex gratia monetary payment to sailors in 1972. Vetlesen released several books about the topic, including Sjøfolkenes kamp for det hemmelige fond (1949), Reis ingen monumenter. Kampen om Nortraships hemmelige fond (1981), Med døden i kjølvannet. Av en krigsseilers saga (1989) and Syv fortellinger fra Norges krig på havet (with others, 1993). He also wrote two books about the Communist Party and Peder Furubotn. He was decorated with the HM The King's Medal of Merit in gold in 1997, and died in May 2003 in Oslo. [1]
Thore Horve was a Norwegian naval officer and businessperson. He is best known for his naval commands and efforts during World War II, for leading the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1946 to 1949 and in 1951, and for his work to compensate war sailors many years later.
Ex gratia is Latin for "by favour", and is most often used in a legal context. When something has been done ex gratia, it has been done voluntarily, out of kindness or grace. In law, an ex gratia payment is a payment made without the giver recognising any liability or legal obligation.
Peder Furubotn was a Norwegian cabinetmaker, politician for the Communist Party and resistance member during World War II.
