Norway: Haakon Lie, Labour party legend, dies at 103

[mogster]

Source: Dagbladet (NO)



The last of the legends

Haakon Lie reached the age of 103.

The Labour-party oldtimer Haakon Lie died at Oppsal nursing home in Oslo this afternoon. He was born September 25, 1905, when Oslo was named Kristiania.
(...)
He became party secretary for the Labour party in 1945, a powerful position he held until 1969.
(...)
In 1945 Lie participated in the Norwegian delegation when the UN was formed in San Fracisco. Lie was known for being a hardliner against the communists, and the left side of the Labour party, and played a central role in the surveillance of the outer left in Norway during the post war period. He also played a key role when the Labour party and the government worked for Norwegian membership of NATO, and stayed a true supporter of NATO and the EEC, and the fact that Norway should have strong political ties to the US and Great Britain.

Another link for this news, also Norwegian unfortunately.
http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/05/25/nyheter/haakon_lie/innenriks/arbeiderpartiet/politikk/6396658/

Read more: http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/05/25/nyheter/haakon_lie/innenriks/arbeiderpartiet/6395790/

---

The strife internally in the Labour party between the two giants Einar Gerhardsen and Haakon Lie has been a major factor in forming the Norway of today; Gerhardsen left leaning and Lie right leaning. Together they steered Norway out of the post war breaking waves and into becoming a modern democracy. Lie, a national security hawk, made a lot of enemies, and lost much of his power through his support for the Vietnam war in the 60's. Yet, he had a strong opinion on fascist and authoritarian systems, having fought the nazi's in Norway since the invasion in 1940, and before that, worked to aid the fight against the Franco regime in Spain.
Haakon Lie was the last of the Labour party giants; the winners of the war against the nazi's in Norway in 1945. Together with Gerhardsen, Trygve Lie (first UN gensek), Jens Christian Hauge (the leader of the secret military unit Milorg during the war) and a few others, he formed an alliance with the Brit Labour party which lasted for several decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Gerhardsen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haakon_Lie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Christian_Hauge

See also this post from 2007 for some context.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1554289&mesg_id=1557105

[Vidar]

1. RIP Mr. Lie.