| Helge Krog | |
| Birth Date: | 9 February 1889 |
| Birth Place: | Kristiania, Norway |
| Nationality: | Norwegian |
| Spouse: | |
| Parents: | |
| Relatives: | Gina Krog (aunt) |
Helge Krog (9 February 1889 – 30 July 1962) was a Norwegian journalist, essayist, theatre and literary critic, translator and playwright.
Krog was born in Kristiania, the son of jurist Fredrik Arentz Krog and Ida Cecilie Thoresen. His mother, a well-known feminist, was the first female student in Norway in 1882,[1] and his father's sister, Gina Krog, was a central figure in the Norwegian women's suffrage movement. He was married to writer and publicist Eli Meyer from 1912 to 1947, and to actress Tordis Maurstad from 1949.[2]
Krog graduated as cand.oecon. in 1911. He worked for the newspaper Verdens Gang from 1912, and from 1914 as a theatre and literary critic. He later worked for the newspapers Tidens Tegn, Arbeiderbladet and Dagbladet.[2] He issued the article collection Norwegian: Meninger om bøker og forfattere in 1929 (lit. Opininons on books and writers), and a second collection, Norwegian: Meninger om mange ting in 1933.[3]
His first play was the press comedy Norwegian: Det store Vi from 1917,[2] which was staged at several Scandinavian theatres.[3] The play was a great success at Nationaltheatret with almost sixty performances, Gerda Ring playing the "shop girl" character, and August Oddvar the "young journalist".[4] The play På solsiden from 1927 was later basis for a film (in 1956).[3] Other plays were Konkylien from 1929, and Don Juan (together with Sigurd Hoel, from 1930).[2] The plays Underveis (1931) and Opbrudd (1936) treat women's role in society and were also of interest during the feminist movement of the 1970s.[2]
During the interwar period Krog became known as a member of the "radical triumvirate", along with Arnulf Øverland and Sigurd Hoel.[2]
During the last part of World War II Krog lived in exile in Sweden, where he contributed to the magazine Håndslag.[5] He published, under pseudonym, the critical article "Nazi-Tysklands krigspotensial og den 6-te kolonne i Norge" in 1944,[6] [7] an article which was subject to much debate, also after the war.[8] The pamphlet was reissued in an expanded version in 1946, questioning the contributions from the Norwegian large-scale industry to the warfare of Nazi Germany (no|6. kolonne -? Om den norske storindustriens bidrag til Nazi-Tysklands krigføring).[2]
He died in Oslo.