Nils Vogt (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Nils Vogt was a Norwegian
journalist. A second cousin of the famous Norwegian poet Nils Collett Vogt
, Vogt was the first chairman of the Norwegian Press Association
and a right-winged figure in Norwegian politics. Vogt worked at the conservative newspaper Morgenbladet
for 45 years, and was its editor-in-chief from 1894 to 1913. He founded the Conservative Press Association and was its chairman in two periods.
as the son of politician Niels Petersen Vogt (1817–94) and his wife Karen Magdalena ("Kaja") Ancher Arntzen (1819–70). His brother was Paul Benjamin Vogt
(1863–1947) and his second cousins were Johan Vogt
(1858–1932), Nils Collett Vogt
(1864–1937) and Ragnar Vogt (1870–1943). He grew up in Kristiansand
and Christiania
, where he enrolled as a student in 1876. He thereupon studied law at the Royal Frederick University
and graduated with a cand.jur. degree in 1881. After a short career in Statistics Norway
, Vogt was offered a position in diplomacy. He rejected the offer, having decided to make a career within journalism.
, where he stayed for 45 years; the rest of his life. Initially, he worked as sub-editor for the editor-in-chief Christian Friele. Vogt succeeded him as editor-in-chief in 1894, and did, according to his biographer Rune Ottosen
in Norsk biografisk leksikon
, unfold his "wide journalistic commitment for politics" in the newspaper. He also had a passion for high culture and wrote theatre reviews for the Morgenbladet. He recalled that Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen
had "ignited his passion of drama". From 1905 to 1915, Vogt was a correspondent to The Times
. After that, he was correspondent to Stockholms Dagblad and other newspapers in Northern Europe.
When it came to politics, Vogt was a conservative. However, he also had many liberal opinions. He disagreed with Francis Hagerup
, who supported the Union between Sweden and Norway
.
Vogt founded the Conservative Press Association in 1892, and was its first chairman, from 1892 to 1898 and from 1906 to 1909. He was also the first chairman of the Norwegian Press Association
(NP), from 1910 to 1912. Owing to internal conflicts in the press of Kristiania, Vogt was a contentious candidate and was elected to the position with only 36 against 21 votes. In 1910, he penned an article for Samtiden
entitled "Pressen og kapitalen" ("The Press and The Capital"), in which he made the distinction between newspaper editors who were solely motivated by profit and those who regarded the job as an ideal life mission. The article was reprinted in his 1913 book Under Frieles haand og paa egen.
In 1910, controversy arose in the Press Assocation when lawyer Olaf Madsen – who had cooperated with Ola Thommessen
for more than 20 years at the newspaper Verdens Gang and was responsible for its financial priorities – wanted to have more dividend for his investments in the newspaper. Editor Ola Thommessen considered this to be an inappropriate intervention in the editorial part of the newspaper, and took his staff with him and started a new newspaper named Tidens Tegn
. Vogt supported Thommessen in his decision, and came at odds with lawyer and politician Edmund Harbitz. Both left Morgenbladet in the summer of 1913 as a result of the strife, although Vogt continued as theatre and literature reviewer in the paper until his 1927 death.
in 1902. He was also delegated to the international press congresses in Stockholm
(1897), in Rome
(1899) and in Berlin
(1909). He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1907. He was also a knight of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog
and the French Legion of Honour. Vogt died in Aker
(now Oslo) on 27 June 1927.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
journalist. A second cousin of the famous Norwegian poet Nils Collett Vogt
Nils Collett Vogt
Nils Collett Vogt was a Norwegian poet.He was born in Christiania as the son of tramway director Jens Theodor Paludan Vogt and writer Johanne Collett...
, Vogt was the first chairman of the Norwegian Press Association
Norwegian Press Association
The Norwegian Press Association is Norwegian association established in 1910, for press people with journalism as their main profession. Among its members are the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Association of Norwegian Editors, Norsk Lokalradioforbund and the Norwegian Media Businesses'...
and a right-winged figure in Norwegian politics. Vogt worked at the conservative newspaper Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...
for 45 years, and was its editor-in-chief from 1894 to 1913. He founded the Conservative Press Association and was its chairman in two periods.
Early life and education
He was born in BergenBergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
as the son of politician Niels Petersen Vogt (1817–94) and his wife Karen Magdalena ("Kaja") Ancher Arntzen (1819–70). His brother was Paul Benjamin Vogt
Paul Benjamin Vogt
Paul Benjamin Vogt was Norwegian member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1903-1904, and Minister of Trade and Minister of Auditing 1904-1905. He also served as the Norway's minister in London 1910-1934....
(1863–1947) and his second cousins were Johan Vogt
Johan Vogt
Johan Vogt was a Norwegian economist, translator, non-fiction writer and journal editor.He was a member of Mot Dag from 1921, and chaired the Norwegian section of Clarté from 1927. He was a professor at the University of Oslo from 1957 to 1970. He was awarded the Fritt Ord Award in 1976, as the...
(1858–1932), Nils Collett Vogt
Nils Collett Vogt
Nils Collett Vogt was a Norwegian poet.He was born in Christiania as the son of tramway director Jens Theodor Paludan Vogt and writer Johanne Collett...
(1864–1937) and Ragnar Vogt (1870–1943). He grew up in Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
and Christiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, where he enrolled as a student in 1876. He thereupon studied law at the Royal Frederick University
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
and graduated with a cand.jur. degree in 1881. After a short career in Statistics Norway
Statistics Norway
Statistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...
, Vogt was offered a position in diplomacy. He rejected the offer, having decided to make a career within journalism.
Journalistic and political career
Vogt started his journalistic career in 1882 at MorgenbladetMorgenbladet
Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...
, where he stayed for 45 years; the rest of his life. Initially, he worked as sub-editor for the editor-in-chief Christian Friele. Vogt succeeded him as editor-in-chief in 1894, and did, according to his biographer Rune Ottosen
Rune Ottosen
Rune Ottosen is a Norwegian professor.He graduated in journalism in 1973 at the Norwegian College of Journalism and in Political Science in 1984 at the University of Oslo. He teaches journalism at Oslo University College...
in Norsk biografisk leksikon
Norsk biografisk leksikon
Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles...
, unfold his "wide journalistic commitment for politics" in the newspaper. He also had a passion for high culture and wrote theatre reviews for the Morgenbladet. He recalled that Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
had "ignited his passion of drama". From 1905 to 1915, Vogt was a correspondent to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. After that, he was correspondent to Stockholms Dagblad and other newspapers in Northern Europe.
When it came to politics, Vogt was a conservative. However, he also had many liberal opinions. He disagreed with Francis Hagerup
Francis Hagerup
George Francis Hagerup was a Norwegian lawyer, diplomat and politician for the Conservative Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 14 October 1895 to 17 February 1898 and from 22 October 1903 to 11 March 1905.Francis Hagerup grew up in Trondheim...
, who supported the Union between Sweden and Norway
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
.
Vogt founded the Conservative Press Association in 1892, and was its first chairman, from 1892 to 1898 and from 1906 to 1909. He was also the first chairman of the Norwegian Press Association
Norwegian Press Association
The Norwegian Press Association is Norwegian association established in 1910, for press people with journalism as their main profession. Among its members are the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Association of Norwegian Editors, Norsk Lokalradioforbund and the Norwegian Media Businesses'...
(NP), from 1910 to 1912. Owing to internal conflicts in the press of Kristiania, Vogt was a contentious candidate and was elected to the position with only 36 against 21 votes. In 1910, he penned an article for Samtiden
Samtiden
Samtiden is a Norwegian political and literary magazine. It was founded by Jørgen Brunchorst and Gerhard Gran in 1890. The magazine's first publisher was John Griegs forlag , and from 1900 Aschehoug . Gran was the magazine's editor from 1892 to 1925. Cathrine Sandnes has been editor-in-chief from...
entitled "Pressen og kapitalen" ("The Press and The Capital"), in which he made the distinction between newspaper editors who were solely motivated by profit and those who regarded the job as an ideal life mission. The article was reprinted in his 1913 book Under Frieles haand og paa egen.
In 1910, controversy arose in the Press Assocation when lawyer Olaf Madsen – who had cooperated with Ola Thommessen
Ola Thommessen
Ola Thommessen was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was the long-time editor of Verdens Gang and Tidens Tegn.-Early and personal life:...
for more than 20 years at the newspaper Verdens Gang and was responsible for its financial priorities – wanted to have more dividend for his investments in the newspaper. Editor Ola Thommessen considered this to be an inappropriate intervention in the editorial part of the newspaper, and took his staff with him and started a new newspaper named Tidens Tegn
Tidens Tegn
Tidens Tegn is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941.-Editors:The founder and first editor-in-chief of Tidens Tegn was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Thommessen had recently left the editor chair of Verdens Gang in protest, bringing much of Verdens...
. Vogt supported Thommessen in his decision, and came at odds with lawyer and politician Edmund Harbitz. Both left Morgenbladet in the summer of 1913 as a result of the strife, although Vogt continued as theatre and literature reviewer in the paper until his 1927 death.
Marriage, honours and death
On 6 November 1884, Vogt married Helena Andrea Ottesen (1861–1906). Vogt had many positions in the Nordic press partnership, and was Norwegian president at the Nordic press meetings in Kristiania in 1899 and in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1902. He was also delegated to the international press congresses in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
(1897), in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(1899) and in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(1909). He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1907. He was also a knight of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...
and the French Legion of Honour. Vogt died in Aker
Aker, Norway
Aker is a former municipality in Akershus, which lends its name to a municipality and a county in Norway. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church...
(now Oslo) on 27 June 1927.