Einar Hoffstad

He was born in Sandefjord to botanist and teacher Olaf Alfred Hoffstad (1865–1943);{{cite encyclopedia|title=Hoffstad, Einar|encyclopedia=Hvem er hvem?|editor-last=Steenstrup|editor-first=Hjalmar|location=Oslo|publisher=Aschehoug|url=https://runeberg.org/hvemerhvem/1930/0185.html|year=1930|page=185|language=no|mode=cs2 }} his younger brother was Arne Hoffstad (1900–1980), who became an editor and Conservative politician.{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebCens.exe?slag=visbase&sidenr=3&filnamn=f00706&gardpostnr=258&personpostnr=3459&merk=3459#ovre |title=Census 1900 |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041554/http://www.digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebCens.exe?slag=visbase&sidenr=3&filnamn=f00706&gardpostnr=258&personpostnr=3459&merk=3459#ovre |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }} Having finished his secondary education in 1913, Einar Hoffstad enrolled at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, where he studied until 1916.{{cite web |title=Einar Hoffstad |url=https://runeberg.org/authors/hoffsein.html |publisher=Project Runeberg |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506183844/http://runeberg.org/authors/hoffsein.html |archive-date=6 May 2011 |language=sv |date=8 November 2006 |mode=cs2 |url-status=live }} He subsequently worked as stockbroker in Sandefjord for a year, before being hired as editor of the stockbrokers' periodical Norsk Aktiemeglertidsskrift and the economy section of Verdens Gang from 1918 to 1919. In that same year he married the slightly younger Edith Eckblad, the daughter of a landlord.{{cite news|title=Registrerte dødsfall|newspaper=Verdens Gang|date=25 July 1959|page=16|language=no|mode=cs2 }}

From 1919 to 1920 Hoffstad worked as a secretary in Norsk Næringsliv.{{cite book|title=Pressefolk. Biografiske oplysninger om Norsk presseforbunds medlemmer 1938|year=1939|publisher=Norwegian Press Association|location=Oslo|edition=2nd|page=31|language=no}} He also began working at the economics periodical Farmand, advancing to co-editor in 1920. He was editor in chief of the periodical from 1922 to 1926 and from 1933 to 1935.{{cite book|last=Kjeldstadli|first=Knut|author-link=Knut Kjeldstadli|title=Et splittet samfunn: 1905-35|year=1994|publisher=Aschehoug|location=Oslo|series=Vol. 12 of Aschehougs Norgeshistorie, edited by Knut Helle|isbn=82-03-22023-1|page=68|language=no|mode=cs2 }} Whilst having a break from his career at Farmand, Hoffstad edited the enterprise journal Forretningsliv between 1926 and 1933, which was acquired by Farmand in 1933. Hoffstad graduated from the Royal Frederick University with a cand.oecon. degree in economics in 1930. From 1930 to 1933, he was managing director of A/S Forretningsliv, and in 1934 of A/S Yrkesforlaget. He also headed the Association for the Norwegian Trade Press from 1927 to 1929 and the Norwegian Press Association in the 1930s. In 1935, Hoffstad was chief editor of the mercantile who's who Merkantilt biografisk leksikon, which was published in a second edition in 1939. He also edited Norges Næringsveier from 1935. He died in July 1959.{{cite web |title=Förord till den elektroniska utgåvan |url=https://runeberg.org/merkbio/ |publisher=Project Runeberg |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506183758/http://runeberg.org/merkbio/ |archive-date=6 May 2011 |language=sv |date=October 2009 |mode=cs2 |url-status=live }}

As editor in chief of Farmand, Hoffstad was a classic liberal who argued against planned economy and egalitarianism.{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Planøkonomi|journal=Farmand|year=1935|at=p. 370|language=no|quote=tilstå næringslivet stor frihet ... denne ulikhet som er betingelsen for at det i det hele tatt vokser og gror og produseres livsfornødenheter|mode=cs2 }} He stated that every society ought to "grant great freedom to commerce",{{cite book|last=Sørensen|first=Øystein|title=Solkors og solidaritet: høyreautoritær samfunnstenkning i Norge ca. 1930-1945|year=1991|publisher=Cappelen|location=Oslo|isbn=82-02-12941-9|pages=86–91, 101, 125–26 & 201|author-link=Øystein Sørensen|language=no|mode=cs2 }} and that inequality was "the condition for economic growth and creation of the necessities of life". He was also a vocal critic of the welfare state, arguing that it "undermined the ability and desire to keep oneself entertained".{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=En "social" skole|journal=Farmand|year=1933|at=p. 631|language=no|quote=man har undergravet evnen og lysten til å underholde sig selv|mode=cs2 }} Hoffstad was also vocal against parliamentary democracy,{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Politisk virvar|journal=Farmand|year=1933|page=794|language=no|quote=den norske parlamentarisme er [...] kommet ut i sin egen karikatur. ... parlamentarismen står ovenfor en krise|mode=cs2 }} as he considered human beings "undemocratic from birth", maintaining they had an "instinctive need for a dictator". "Dollfuss, Mussolini, and Hitler are all very popular", he argued.{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Demokratiets død|journal=Farmand|year=1933|at=pp. 649–50|language=no|quote=man har undergravet evnen og lysten til å underholde sig selv.... menneskene [er] slett ikke demokratisk anlagt...det er likesom menneskene har et instinktivt behov for en diktator ... en Dolfuss, en Mussolini, en Hitler er alle meget populære|mode=cs2 }}

Despite his earlier libertarianism, Hoffstad gradually began espousing fascist and corporatist viewpoints in the late 1930s. In March 1936, he wrote an article for the business journal Norges Næringsveier titled "Hverken kapitalisme eller sosialisme" ("Neither Capitalism nor Socialism"), in which he stated that commerce should "abide by the new conditions", and that "socialism and capitalism are about to go together into a higher entity".{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Hverken kapitalisme eller sosialisme|journal=Norges Næringsveier|year=1936|at=pp. 273–75|language=no|quote=Kapitalismen og sosialismen er i ferd med å gå opp i en høiere enhet ... statens, samfunnets interesser går foran individets|mode=cs2 }} He also voiced his support for collectivist ideas, proclaiming that "the interests of the State and society should prevail over those of the individual". In the autumn of 1940, he encouraged entrepreneurs and business people of Norway to vote for the fascist party Nasjonal Samling ("National Rally"), which he had joined on 25 September.{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Til den norske forretningsstand|journal=Norges Næringsveier|date=October 1940|at=p. 340|language=no|mode=cs2 }} Hoffstad also welcomed the German occupation of Norway during the Second World War, stating that "Hitler's purpose is to create a new and happy Europe".{{cite journal|last=Hoffstad|first=Einar|title=Norges skjebnetime er nu inne|journal=Norges Næringsveier|date=July 1936|at=p. 267|language=no|quote=Å skape et nytt og lykkelig Europa er Hitlers mål|mode=cs2 }} In 1941 Hoffstad issued the pamphlet Vinner England krigen? ("Is England Winning the War?") together with Grundtvig Gundersen on the publishing house Heroldens Forlag, cover illustrated by Harald Damsleth.{{cite book|title=Damsleth: han teikna for Norge|author-link=Einar Økland|author=Økland, Einar|year=2008|location=Bergen|publisher=Vigmostad & Bjørke|isbn=978-82-419-0417-2|language=no}} In it, the authors concluded: "There is no longer a question on whether England can win the war, England has already lost it".{{cite book|title=Vinner England krigen?|others=Gundersen, Grundtvig|year=1941|publisher=Herolden|language=no|location=Oslo|page=29}}

• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |title=Håndbok for Meglere og Aktionærer|year=1917|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Christiania Handelsstands Forening: 1841 – 12. nov. 1921. Jubilæumsskrift|year=1921|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |others=Øyvind Sørensen (illustrator)|title=Et mindeskrift: P. Schreiner sen & Co.: 1823–1923|year=1923|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=De tider vi gaar imøte: økonomiske efterkrigsproblemer|year=1926|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Det norske privatbankvæsens historie|year=1928|orig-year=1925|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Kapitalanbringelse|year=1928|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |title=Jubilæumsskrift: 1905 – 5.mai 1930: Kontorfunktionærernes forening|year=1930|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Socialøkonomi for menigmann og stortingsmenn|year=1934|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |title=Merkantilt biografisk leksikon. Hvem er hvem i næringslivet?|year=1935|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Kristiania-krakket: en jobbetids historie|year=1935–36|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |title=Jerngrossistenes forening: 1888 – 12. oktober 1938|year=1938|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |title=Merkantilt biografisk leksikon. Hvem er hvem i næringslivet?|year=1939|edition=2nd|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Hoffstad |editor-first=Einar |editor-mask=2 |title=Illustrert norsk næringsleksikon: (hvad er hvad i næringslivet?)|year=1938–40|volume=4 volumes|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Vinner England krigen?|others=Gundersen, Grundtvig|year=1941|mode=cs2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hoffstad |first=Einar |author-mask=2 |title=Arbeidets seierherrer: små romaner om store menn|others=Arne Wold (illustrator)|year=1944|mode=cs2 }}

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Category:1894 births

Category:1959 deaths

Category:Norwegian encyclopedists

Category:People from Sandefjord

Category:Members of Nasjonal Samling