Ola Teigen
 Ola Teigen    (politician) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||
| Born | 11 February 1937 Narvik, Nordland | |||||||||||
| Died | 28 July 1970 (Age 33) Trondheim | |||||||||||
Cause of death | "suicide" | |||||||||||
| Nationality | Norwegian | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Oslo University | |||||||||||
| Victim of | premature death | |||||||||||
| Party | Norwegian Labour Party | |||||||||||
Leader of the Norwegian Labour Party's youth wing, who resigned after it was revealed the youth wing received funding from the Central Intelligence Agency.
| ||||||||||||
Ola Teigen was a Norwegian journalist and politician from the Labour party, where he led the its youth wing AUF.
Teigen is best known for the revelation that AUF indirectly received funding from the Central Intelligence Agency via the International Union of Socialist Youth, where Teigen was chairman of the Control Committee.
The revelations led to Teigen resigning and a more radical faction in AUF gaining power. He committed suicide in 1970.
Background
He was born in the city of Narvik, and took a degree in political science in 1963. He was a professional employee at the Labour Party's Workers' Press Office until 1969, when he was employed by a Labour newspaper in Trondheim.[1]
Teigen was a member of the Oslo City Council and School Board 1964–1967. He was the Labor Party's first deputy representative to the Storting from Nordland 1965–1969. Teigen was a member of the central board of AUF from 1961 and chairman 1964–1969. He was chairman of the IUSY Control Committee.
He is later best known for the revelations that AUF indirectly received money from the Central Intelligence Agency. The case was published in an article in the newspaper Dagbladet, written anonymously by the two radical AUF members Jan Otto Hauge and Per Olav Marcussen.
The article in Dagbladet attracted a great deal of attention and helped to change the internal balance of power in AUF in favor of radical NATO opponents. This changed back again to a pro-NATO position under youth leader Jens Stoltenberg.
Although the transfer of funds from the CIA to IUSY had been going on for several years, Teigen was held responsible. In 1969, the incumbent leadership was deposed at an extraordinary national meeting, and not long after, Teigen, who had long struggled with mental health problems[citation needed], committed suicide.[2]
KGB involvement
According to a 2016 article in Dagbladet, Per Olav Marcussen, who wrote the article, had taken money from the KGB. On February 6, 1984, Marcussen called the Police Surveillance Service (POT), 2 weeks after Arne Treholt was arrested for espionage. Marcussen then said that in 1967 he received money from the KGB and later also the Stasi for various services. In the interrogation with POT, he also admitted that it was he who had written the 1967 article that revealed the CIA funding.[3].
