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Marcus Thrane
Born	(1817-10-14)October 14, 1817 Christiania (now Oslo, Norway)
Died	April 30, 1890(1890-04-30) (aged 72) Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States
Resting place	Cemetery of Our Saviour, Oslo, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation(s)	Photographer, journalist, author, labor activist
Spouse	Josephine Thrane

Marcus Møller Thrane (14 October 1817 – 30 April 1890) was a Norwegian author, journalist, and the leader of the first labour movement in Norway. It was later known as the Thrane movement (Thranebevegelsen). He came to be known as an important figure within the Nordic immigrant community with his continuous involvement in labor activism through playwrights and journalism in various cities.

Labour movement

On December 27th, 1848, Thrane founded Drammens Arbeiderforening (Drammen's Worker Society) with 160 members. The following year, several other local unions joined a national organization, and Thrane printed the first edition of the union's paper, Arbeiderforeningernes Blad.

In May 1850, the union delivered a petition to King King Oscar II of Sweden and the Norwegian [Storting]] (parliament), which was signed by 13,000 members. Thrane and the other members asked for universal voting, the extension of mandatory military services to those with property, equality before the law, better schools, low or no border taxes on necessary goods, such as grains, and special support for poor farmers in the form of arable land on reasonable terms.

In November, the government dismissed the petition. The union's national conference, in February of 1851, sought a revolution. Thrane encouraged peaceful protest and warned his fellow labor activists to do the same. Although Thrane attempted to avoid violence, riots broke out that resulted in his arrest with many others.

Thrane and 150 other union members were sentenced on July 7th, 1851 with charges for conspiring against the safety of the nation. Thrane was sentenced to four years in prison, in addition to four years that had already passed. His son Arthur D.H. Thrane, a young boy at the time, voluntarily joined his father behind bars for several years. The imprisonments and internal tension resulted in the end of the movement, and Thrane's attempt of revitalizing it after his release from prison were unsuccessful.

Later life

After the collapse of the movement and his wife dying from sickness in 1862, Thrane voluntarily left Norway in exile. On February 2nd, 1864, Thrane arrived to America with his three daughters aboard the Harvest Queen. The four passengers entered through the immigration station at Castle Garden. Thrane spent his first few years in America in New York, where he pursued a career in photography, before moving to Chicago, where he started a newspaper and wrote dramas.

In 1883, he returned to Norway for a brief visit and held a number of lectures but, disappointed, by the moderate interest, he returned to the United States. There is not much to be found about his later years in life. He seemed to have lived a quiet life in northern Wisconsin, being near his family and spending time with his dogs. He spent the remainder of his life near immediate family in Eau Claire, where he died in 1890.

Thrane was buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Eau Claire, alongside his son Dr. Arthur D.H. Thrane and two beloved bloodhounds. Years later in 1949, Thrane's coffin was sent to Norway, where he was buried and remains today in Vår Frelsers Gravlund in Oslo. The honor reburial took place on April 27th, 1949, eighty-six years after his exile from Norway and after fifty-nine years of resting in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.<ref.>"Thrane's Body Reburied with Honors in Norway". 10 May 1949.</ref> This reburial in Norway signified recognition of social injustice and a reclaiming of a lost history in a man considered to be the founding father of the labor movement in Norway, many years after the government exiled him to America.

Legacy

Although his movement existed for only a few years, Thrane’s work was an important contribution in the politicization of the Norwegian worker. The Norwegian Labour Party (founded in 1887) refers to him as one of its founding fathers. All of the reforms Thrane had worked towards in his early efforts have now been accepted by the Norwegian government.<ref.{{cite news|title=Iron Slab Marks Norwegian Grave |url

Today, Thrane is remembered in Drammen, the city where he started Norway's first labour union, Drammen Arbeiderforening. On October 14, 2017, the city held a 200-year celebration for Thrane’s birthday. He is still recognized for his efforts and labor activisim. A monument of him stands in his honor in Strømsø square.

External links

• Marcus Thrane Collection (published by Norwegian-American Historical Association)