Christian Friele

As its editor-in-chief, he became known for his wit and sharp-tongued remarks; he ruthlessly derided key contemporary political figures as "clerical lutefisk" and "royal stable jacks".

[2] His birthplace had a profound impact on his later life; the writer and poet Johan Sebastian Welhaven – also from Bergen – taught him how to fine-tune Bergen-style sarcasms, for which Friele became feared in his later editorship.

[2] During his studies he befriended the playwright Henrik Ibsen and the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson – the former he was allowed to address with the informal second-person pronoun Du.

His inferior education was however of no hindrance; a biographer once commented: "The inadequacies in his studies gave his beliefs a steadfast grounding they otherwise would have lacked".

[10] Despite his tendency to ridicule his political enemies, Friele exercised considerable editorial discretion, in the view of his biographer Olaf Gjerløw.

The Liberal Party attempted to get rid of the "senior official government" through the legal system; however, it needed 72 mandates to win a majority in the Lagting and call for an impeachment.

[15] After this defeat, Friele resigned from his editor position in Morgenbladet, curtly stating to his successor Nils Vogt: "Oh my, how this paper regresses".

[7] The conservative politician C. J. Hambro described him thus: Men with greater names and with higher status in history are forgotten and will remain so.