Torgeir Vraa

Who was Torgeir Vraa?

Torgeir Tarjei Olavsson Vraa was a Norwegian educator, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party.

He was born as Torgeir Rui in Fyresdal as a son of farmers. Upon graduating from Asker Seminary in 1889, he was hired as a school teacher in Modum. Here he married Maren Sofie Hansen in October 1892. Vraa joined the Liberal Party, where Christopher Hornsrud was a leading figure on the left wing, but in 1897 the two joined the Labour Party.

From 1902 to 1904 he was a journalist in the Labour Party newspaper Social-Demokraten in Kristiania. From 17 May 1905 he was the first editor-in-chief of the newly established Labour Party newspaper Fremtiden in Drammen, where he contributed to defining local journalism as a genre.

Vraa was elected to the Parliament of Norway in 1906 for the constituency Strømsø og Tangen. He prevailed in the second round of voting, having won the endorsement from the local Liberals who pulled their candidate. He was a member of the Protocol Committee. In the next election in 1909 he lost this support and was not re-elected. He instead served as deputy mayor of Drammen from 1910 to 1913. In total he was a city council member from 1910 to 1919 and 1922 to 1928. He was also county chairman for a period, and national board member from 1904 to 1912 and 1918 to 1920.