Quisling, Vidkun (kwĭz`lĭng, Nor. vĭd`k

n kvĭs`lĭng), 1887–1945, Norwegian fascist leader. An army officer, he served as military attaché in Petrograd (1918–19) and Helsinki (1919–21) and later assisted Fridtjof Nansen in relief work in Russia. He was Norwegian minister of defense from 1931 to 1933. He then left the Agrarian party to found the fascist Nasjonal Samling [national unity] party. In 1940 he helped Germany prepare the conquest of Norway. Remaining at the head of the sole party permitted by the Germans, he was made premier in 1942. Despite his unpopularity and difficulties with his German masters and within his own party, he remained in power until May, 1945, when, after the Germans in Norway surrendered, he was arrested. He was convicted of high treason and shot. From his name came the word quisling, meaning traitor.

Bibliography

See biography by P. M. Hayes (1972).

Quisling, Vidkun (Abraham Lauritz Jonsson)

(born July 18, 1887, Fyresdal, Nor.—died Oct. 24, 1945, Akershus Fortress, Oslo) Norwegian politician and collaborator with the Germans in World War II. After serving as military attaché in Petrograd and Helsinki, he became Norway's minister of defense in 1931. He resigned in 1933 to form the fascist National Union party. He actively collaborated in the German conquest of Norway (1940) and served in the occupation government. His attempts to convert Norwegians to National Socialism aroused strong opposition. After Norway's liberation, he was found guilty of treason and executed. His name became a synonym for “traitor.”

Quisling, Vidkun

(1887–1945) Norwegian fascist leader; persuaded Hitler to attack Norway. [Nor. Hist.: Flexner, 444]

See : Treason