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Norwegian political legend passes away.

by slimmey | May 26, 2009 at 03:32 am

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One of the founders and architects behind the Norwegian welfare system died on Monday 25 May.

The old legend and sly fox of the Norwegian Labour was one of the founders and architects of the sole welfare system that has shaped Norway as it is today. Haakon died after some time of sickbed at an old retirement home 103 years old.

Haakon was born in 1905, the year that Norway became independent from 300 years of shifting unionship including both Denmark and Sweden. He was an active protagonist for freedom and participated in the Spanish Sivil War, and lost a brother during World War 2.

Although Lie fought for the poorer individual of society he expressed that he was neither a socialist nor a communist, but the poor always deserved some rights.

After the second world war, Lie returned to Norway and participated in rebuilding Norway after the Nazis- and helped Einar Gerhardsen, the former leader of the Labour Party re-establish the government.

During his last last years, he participated in debates about foreign policy and policy in general.

Lie will be deeply missed amongst the labours and amongst most political societies in Norway.

Rest in peace.

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Uwe Paschen

at 04:07 on May 26th, 2009

Born into a family of Finnish origin but unrelated to Trygve Lie, Lie was the son of a fireman in Oslo – then called Kristiania. Though he describes his childhood as a happy one, his family was poor and, until 1916, his father had to work 112 hours a week. With his parents, two brothers, and two sisters, he shared one room and a kitchen. Lie got involved with the labour movement at the age of sixteen, in 1921.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/ap_on_re_eu/eu_norway_obit_lie