Arne Tumyr

Arne Tumyr (6 March 1933 – 17 February 2023) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor and politician, and leader of the organisation Stop Islamisation of Norway.

Tumyr in 2012

Tumyr grew up in Ask in Askøy, from where he moved in 1950.^[1] He was educated as a baker in 1952, and he started working as a journalist apprentice for the newspaper Nordlands Framtid in Bodø in 1956. In 1960 he was hired as subeditor in Sunnmøre Arbeideravis, and from 1961 to 1970 he was a journalist in Bergens Arbeiderblad. In 1970 he was hired as editor-in-chief of the Larvik-based newspaper Nybrott. From 1984 to 1986 he edited the newspaper Sørlandet. He published a newspaper called Ukeavisen Aktuelt from 1986 to 1988,^[2] a weekly and free newspaper, unusual in Norway at the time.^[3]

Tumyr founded the Bergen chapter of the Norwegian Humanist Association in 1967,^[4] and was a self-declared Atheist.^[5] He later became leader of the Vest-Agder chapter of the same organisation. He was in 1999, however, forced to withdraw from his position after his immigration-critical comment, titled "Stopp islamiseringen av Norge" ("Stop the Islamisation of Norway"), in the newspaper Fædrelandsvennen. The Norwegian Humanist Association was in 2005 convicted by Oslo District Court of defamatory comments against Tumyr, written in a letter to the editor of Fædrelandsvennen by a board member of the Vest-Agder chapter.^[6] Tumyr was for a long time a member of the Norwegian Labour Party,^[1] but later changed to the Progress Party, of which he for a period was leader of the party's local Kristiansand group. Later in life he was no longer a member of any political party.^[5]

From 2007 onward, Tumyr was the chairman of the organization Stop Islamisation of Norway^[1] (then Forum against islamisation). He described "Islamic ideology" as "diabolical".^[5] Among others, Stop the Islamisation of Norway and Tumyr were involved in demonstrations which turned into minor street clashes.^[7][8]

Tumyr was also author of the books Knut Hamsun og hans kors (1996, Norgesforlaget)^[9] and Vardene brenner! (2008, Kolofon forlag).^[1]

Tumyr died on 17 February 2023, at the age of 89.^[10]

His son Erik Tumyr was an award-winning journalist, who started his career in Nybrott in 1983.^[11] He died in May 2011.^[12]

References

1. Nygaard, Mari Møen (12 December 2008). "Tar et oppgjør med verdensreligionene". Askøyværingen (in Norwegian).
2. "Arne Tumyr 60 år 6. mars" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 20 February 1993.
3. "Eks-AP-redaktør til kamp mot utbredelse av islam" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 8 March 1994.
4. . Kolofon (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 25 August 2016.
5. Waagbø, Arild J. (26 February 2009). . Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
6. Vindsland, Steinar (7 December 2005). "Ærekrenket som rasist av Human-Etisk Forbund". Fædrelandsvennen (in Norwegian).
7. "NorgesPatriotene-profil måtte eskorteres bort av politiet" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 23 May 2009. from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
8. Aass Kristiansen, Arnhild; Meldalen, Sindre Granly (13 June 2009). "Norgespatriotene-leder angrepet i Oslo sentrum". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 November 2009.
9. Ustvedt, Yngvar (23 October 1996). "Hamsun-bildet endres ikke". VG (in Norwegian).
10. "Tidligere Sian-leder Arne Tumyr er død". VG. February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
11. Mossin, Bjørn Åge (7 October 2005). "Erik Tumyr". Journalisten (in Norwegian).
12. Storedal, Magne (13 May 2011). "Erik Tumyr er død". Journalisten (in Norwegian). p. 30.