Olav Meisdalshagen
21 November 1959
['28 February 1955', '18 June 1920', '3 April 1980', '2 October 1950', '19 July 1951', '14 July 1865', '23 February 1963', '14 May 1995', '6 December 1943', '14 June 2015', '8 November 1994', '18 April 1942', '30 November 1964', '20 October 1959', '5 May 1961', '10 February 1939', '12 May 1925', '18 December 2001', '11 July 1929', '4 December 1937', '19 June 1951', '22 February 1943', '24 March 1946', '2 April 1958', '9 January 2012', '14 January 1997', '12 February 1938', '30 December 1993', '8 March 1910', '25 January 1917', '14 February 2008', '19 March 1982', '23 May 1945', '15 April 1971', '15 December 1989', '26 December 1973', '15 September 2000', '15 March 1986', '28 April 1966', '24 October 1984', '16 January 1935', '18 January 2010', '25 October 1967', '31 August 2002', '12 June 2013', '4 October 1951', '17 November 1955', '24 January 1951', '10 October 1973', '19 January 1968', '28 August 1988', '4 February 1957', '27 September 1963', '5 June 2015', '23 December 1977', '15 April 1919', '4 February 1956', '18 January 1999', '22 April 1991', '25 October 1999', '6 March 1915', '16 May 1981', '26 August 2006', '24 January 2015', '18 May 1974', '15 August 1952', '14 November 1982', '21 August 1997', '4 May 1967', '28 September 1962', '16 July 1989', '18 June 1965', '18 October 1940', '19 August 1928', '25 June 1896', '18 February 1998', '15 January 1943', '12 July 1998', '5 January 1986', '30 September 2013', '11 December 1945', '8 February 1949', '17 December 1999', '2 March 1976', '24 January 1940', '15 November 1980', '12 October 1943', '3 December 1986', '3 September 1876', '27 May 1858', '28 October 1976', '13 March 1914', '4 November 2007', '23 October 1978', '21 June 1983', '4 December 1960', '9 September 1972', '7 December 2001', '29 July 1964']
Olav Meisdalshagen
Olav Meisdalshagen (17 March 1903 – 21 November 1959) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party best known for serving as the Norwegian Minister of Finance from December 1947 to November 1951 and as the Norwegian Minister of Agriculture from January 1955 to May 1956. He was also a Member of Parliament for a long time, being elected for the first time in parliamentary election of 1936 and serving until his death, except for the period between 1940 and 1945 when the Parliament of Norway was de facto defunct due to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. His death in 1959 came halfway through his fifth term in Parliament, and shortly after a parliamentary speech. A jurist by profession, Meisdalshagen came from a humble family background, growing up at a former crofter's farm in rural Nord-Aurdal, and losing his father in the 1920s. After studying he moved back to Nord-Aurdal, worked as an attorney and built the Labour Party organization in the region. The background formed him in that his main political goal was to improve the economy of dwellers in rural farming districts. He was a proponent of economic regulation, which marked his period as Minister of Finance. However, his period was also marked by the dominance of Erik Brofoss and the Ministry of Trade in deciding the country's overall financial policy. When Trygve Bratteli succeeded Meisdalshagen as Minister of Finance, the ministry regained its dominance, but also set out on a gradual deregulation. This, in addition to Meisdalshagen's discontent with increased spendings on defence, made him an oppositional figure within the Labour Party. He did return briefly to cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, and also cooperated with the government through the position as chairman of Norges Kooperative Landsforening, a national association of consumer co-operatives. However his oppositional tendencies grew stronger in his later life. He was a part of the "Easter Uprising" in 1958, and in 1958 and 1959 there were rumours of Meisdalshagen worked behind the scene to facilitate a change of personnel—and policy—in the Labour Party. His death came in this period.