Gerda Grepp

{{Infobox writer

| name = Gerda Grepp

| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-17036-0005, Spanischer Bürgerkrieg, Nordahl Grieg, Ludwig Renn.jpg

| caption = Gerda Grepp, with Nordahl Grieg and Ludwig Renn

| birth_date = {{Birth date |1907|5|26|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age |1940|8|29|1907|5|26|df=y}}

| death_place = Norway

| resting_place= Vestre gravlund, Oslo, Norway

| occupation = Journalist
War correspondent

| nationality = Norwegian

| notableworks =

| spouse =

| relatives = Kyrre Grepp (father)
Rachel Grepp (mother)

| website =

}}

Gerda Johanne Helland Grepp{{cite book|title=Kirkevergens database|publisher=Oslo Municipality, funeral agency|year=2006}} Accessed through the [http://www.disnorge.no/gravminner/vis.php?mode=x grave-site registry] of the Genealogy Society of Norway (DIS), select "Id" from the drop-down menu labelled "Find" and enter "675648".Vislie 2016: p. 25 (26 May 1907 – 29 August 1940) was a Norwegian translator, journalist, and socialist.{{cite book |last1=Preston |first1=Paul |title=We Saw Spain Die: Foreign Correspondents in the Spanish Civil War |date=2008 |publisher=Constable |pages=259–276}} She was the daughter of former chairman of the Norwegian Labour Party Kyrre Grepp and journalist Rachel Grepp.{{cite book |title=Tusen dager. Norge og den spanske borgerkrigen 1936-1939 |first1=Jo Stein |last1=Moen |author-link=Jo Stein Moen |first2=Rolf |last2=Sæther |author-link2=Rolf Sæther |pages=63–70 |chapter=Norges første kvinnelige krigsreporter |publisher=Gyldendal |language=no |location=Oslo |year=2009 }}{{cite book |title=Inn i din tid |first=Sigurd |last=Evensmo |author-link=Sigurd Evensmo |pages=87–88 |publisher=Gyldendal |language=no |location=Oslo |year=1976 |isbn=82-574-0250-8 }}

She was married to Italian-Swiss potter Mario Mascarin (1901–66). They had a son Olav Kyrre (Ping) Grepp and a daughter, Solveig Marie Alexandra "Sacha" Grepp. The daughter was named after family friend Alexandra Kollontai.{{cite news |title=Sacha i Andesmauet |url=https://www.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/i/z6B3K/sacha-i-andesmauet |access-date=2 December 2019 |agency=Stavanger Aftenblad |date=4 December 2003}}

Spanish Civil War

Grepp covered the Spanish Civil War as a reporter for the Labour Party newspaper Arbeiderbladet from 1936. She arrived in Barcelona in October 1936, as the first female reporter from Scandinavia. She travelled to Madrid, where she experienced bombing attacks on the city. With Ludwig Renn she drove to the Toledo front. During her travels, she was also accompanied by her friend André Malraux.{{cite book |title=Nini Haslund Gleditsch - opprør - ein biografi |first=John |last=Stanghelle |pages=108–10 |publisher=Samlaget |language=no |location=Oslo |year=1993 |isbn=82-521-3931-0 |url=http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/a994d2e281723fbdf67f1d202f78ecef#&struct=DIV108}} While in Spain, Grepp served as an interpreter for other Norwegians.

Both Grepp and the other Norwegian correspondents in Spain, like Nordahl Grieg and Nini Gleditsch, sympathized with the Republican cause in the war. Gleditsch and Grepp helped organize a large-scale aid effort for Spain, based around the Norwegian labour movement.{{cite book |title=Verden etter 1850 |first1=Tor Egil |last1=Førland |first2=Stein |last2=Tønnesson |first3=Ole Kristian |last3=Grimnes |first4=Holger |last4=Koefoed |author-link2=Stein Tønnesson |author-link3=Ole Kristian Grimnes |page=167 |language=no |location=Oslo |year=1997 |url=http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/53df47b858fa2675a4c5625a67cab464#&struct=DIV182}}

According to professor Rune Ottosen, Grepp and Birgit Nissen were marked with "sharp pens against the growing fascism".{{cite book |title=Fra fjærpenn til Internett: Journalister i organisasjon og samfunn |first=Rune |last=Ottosen |author-link=Rune Ottosen |page=107 |publisher=Aschehoug |language=no |location=Oslo |year=1996 |isbn=82-03-26128-0 |url=http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/3ac58810f93aa2532019ac452006d401#&struct=DIV108}}

In January and February 1937 she visited Málaga, together with Hungarian journalist and reporter for the British daily newspaper News Chronicle, Arthur Koestler.{{cite book |title=Tusen dager |first1=Jo Stein |last1=Moen |first2=Rolf |last2=Sæther |pages=106–113 |chapter=Malaga faller |publisher=Gyldendal |language=no |location=Oslo |year=2009 }} She and Koestler took shelter with the eccentric 72-year-old Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, who had stayed on in Málaga "to protect his house and servants" while his compatriots fled to Gibraltar.{{Cite web|url=https://theclaptonpress.com/my-house-in-malaga-by-sir-peter-chalmers-mitchell/|title=Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, My House in Málaga, (1938), London, The Clapton Press|date=29 May 2019 }} During the battle of Málaga she barely escaped the attacking Nationalist forces.{{cite news |title=Hun var den dristigste av alle |last=Tretvoll |first=Halvor F. |newspaper=Dagsavisen |date=12 October 2009 |url=http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/article445197.ece |access-date=23 January 2010 |language=no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015202622/http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/article445197.ece |archive-date=15 October 2009 }} Grepp left Málaga on 6 February, while Koestler was still in the city. On 7 February Italian troops occupied the city. Koestler was arrested, sentenced to death as a spy, and placed in a death cell in Sevilla. However, after considerable international pressure, he was released from custody. This episode is recorded in detail in Sir Peter's memoir, recently republished by The Clapton Press. From May 1937 Grepp spent several weeks in the Basque Country. She visited the Republican Basque Army defensive line called the Iron Belt, and experienced the Battle of Bilbao.{{cite book |title=Tusen dager|first1=Jo Stein |last1=Moen |first2=Rolf |last2=Sæther |pages=115–120 |chapter=I skyggen av Guernica |publisher=Gyldendal |language=no |location=Oslo |year=2009 }} Grepp frequently found herself in dangerous situations while in Spain. During her time in Spain Grepp was suffering from tuberculosis. Eventually she was compelled by her ill health to leave the war zone and return to Norway.

Death and legacy

Gerda Grepp died of tuberculosis in German-occupied Norway on 29 August 1940, 33 years old.{{cite book |title=Tusen dager |first1=Jo Stein |last1=Moen |first2=Rolf |last2=Sæther |pages=63–70 |chapter=Siste kapittel |publisher=Gyldendal |language=no |location=Oslo |year=2009 }} She was buried in Vestre gravlund in Oslo. Grepp's work has since been largely forgotten, her fellow journalist Lise Lindbæk instead being commonly seen as Norway's first female war correspondent.

A biography of Grepp, written by Elisabeth Vislie, was published in 2016.{{cite book |title= Ved fronten. Gerda Grepp og den spanske borgerkrigen |first=Elisabeth |last=Vislie |publisher=Pax Forlag |language=no |location=Oslo |year=2016 |isbn=978-82-530-3866-7 }}

Gerda Grepp

Spanish Civil War

Death and legacy

References

Further reading