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Vidkun Quisling.

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Qvisling

Vidkun Quisling — Politician
Born Oslo, Norway
Died Oslo, Norway
Citizenship Norway

5 min read

Reading time

851

Words

Published

1

Book

2

Awards

TL;DR

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian army officer who headed a collaborationist government under Nazi Germany in 1940. He was executed by firing squad in 1945 for high treason after conviction for embezzlement, murder, and high treason. His name became a byword for traitor in several languages.

Identity & family.

KIN · 3

Names, aliases, and relatives of Vidkun Quisling — birth name, kin, and personal ties.

Birth Name Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Qvisling
Native Name Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling
PARENTS
Anna Qvisling Jon Lauritz Qvisling
SIBLINGS
Jørgen Quisling

At a glance.

STATS

Vidkun Quisling by the numbers — life, work, and family.

58 Years lived
1 Book
2 Awards

Who was Vidkun Quisling?

BIOGRAPHY

Vidkun Quisling — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.

Early life

Born on July 18, 1887 at Akerhus Fortress in Oslo, Norway, to Anna Qvisling and Jon Lauritz Qvisling, Vidkun Quisling attended the Norwegian Military Academy and the Norwegian Military College, laying the foundation for his military career.

Career

Quisling served as military attaché in Petrograd from 1918 to 1919 and in Helsinki from 1919 to 1921, later assisting Fridtjof Nansen in relief work in Russia. He became Norwegian minister of defence from 1931 to 1933. In 1940 he broke his oath and secretly aided Germany in its invasion of Norway, and the Germans installed him as head of the collaborationist Norwegian government. He remained in power until May 1945, when he was arrested after the German surrender.

Personal life

Quisling’s parents were Anna Qvisling and Jon Lauritz Qvisling. He had one sibling, Jørgen Quisling. His native name was Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling. He was born at Akerhus Fortress, Oslo, on July 18, 1887.

Legacy

Vidkun Quisling is universally despised in Norway and remembered as one of history’s most infamous traitors. The term quisling has become a byword for collaborator or traitor in several languages. He was stripped of his Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1940, reflecting international contempt for his actions.

Awards & honors.

AWARDS · 2

Every award, honor, and recognition received by Vidkun Quisling — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.

  • Order of St. Sava
  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Bibliography.

BOOKS · 1

Vidkun Quisling's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.

  1. Cover for Universismen

    Universismen

    by Vidkun Quisling

Did you know?

FACTS · 1

Little-known facts about Vidkun Quisling — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.

  1. Awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1929, Vidkun Quisling was stripped of that title in 1940 after collaborating with Nazi Germany’s occupation of Norway.

You wanted to know.

FAQ · 25

Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Vidkun Quisling.

Audited & updated by

Olivia Brooks

Senior Staff Writer & Biography Editor

Olivia has 6 years of experience writing biographical profiles and still approaches every subject like it's the first one. She covers everyone from debut musicians to Hall of Fame athletes to novelists most people have never heard of. She finds something worth reading in all of them. Her drafts tend to come in already clean, which her editor appreciates. She says good writing is just good thinking written down. Hard to argue with that.

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