Knut Einar Eriksen
Norwegian historian
Knut Einar Eriksen (born 31 July 1944) is a Norwegian historian.
He was born in Sarpsborg, and took the cand.philol. degree in 1969. He was an associate professor at the University of Tromsø from 1975 to 1982, and a professor from 1982 to 1986. In 1989 he was appointed as a professor at the University of Oslo. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and from 1988 to 1990 he chaired the Norwegian Historical Association.
Among his most important publications is DNA og NATO. Striden om norsk NATO-medlemskap innen regjeringspartiet 1948–49, which was released in 1972 and explores objections to NATO membership within the Norwegian Labour Party (DNA). In 1987 he wrote Frigjøring, volume eight of the World War II work Norge i krig, with Terje Halvorsen. In 1998 he released a two-volume history on surveillance in Norway, Den hemmelige krigen: overvåking i Norge 1914–1997, together with Trond Bergh.
With the publication of the latter work he became involved in an unusual case.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Knut Einar Eriksen” is norwegian historian. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Knut, Einar and Eriksen, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “norwegian historian” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 23, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6423877. VIAF identifies the subject as 11124787. The Library of Congress control number is n79079461. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944, 1969, 1975 and 1982.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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- Building a first chronology
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Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Knut Einar Eriksen primary sources, Knut Einar Eriksen archive and Knut research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Knut Einar Eriksen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.