Michael Puntervold

Michael Puntervold (4 September 1879 – 4 August 1937) was a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties.

Personal life He was born in Grimstad as a son of Karl Gustav Puntervold (1828–1920) and Francisca Maria Falch, née Landmark (1845–). His father was a seamen's school manager in Grimstad until 1885, when he was appointed as head quartermaster officer of the Royal Norwegian Navy in Horten. His father's lineage hailed from Eigersund Municipality and his mother was from Jølster Municipality where her father served as bailiff. On his mother's side he was a first cousin of Ole and Hjørdis Landmark.

In September 1908 in Kristiania he married merchant's daughter Anna Pedersen Øyjord from Øyjord. The couple had three daughters, born between 1909 and 1916.

He became an important person in the labour movement in 1904 when publishing the pamphlet Antimilitarismen via Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund. It was the first "comprehensive theoretical reasoning" behind the Labour Party's military policy at the time: skepticism to the current military while wanting the working people to take up arms. In the early 1900s he published agitative pamphlets named Militarismen ("The Militarism") and Klassekampen ("The Class Struggle"). He also agitated for a Norwegian republic; in 1905 he issued a draft for a new, republican Constitution of Norway together with Nikolaus Gjelsvik, Johan Scharffenberg and Solnørdal. In 1918 the party tried to field him as the candidate in neighboring constituency Bærum og Follo, but he lost clearly to Christian Fredrik Michelet with 3,823 against 5,880 votes. He did carry a majority in two sub-constituencies, Oppegaard and Son.

Puntervold placed himself on the right wing of the party, which held control of the party by and large until 1918. In 1920 he was more or less denounced by Edvard Bull, Sr. who wrote in Det 20de Aarhundre of "right-wing socialism and puntervoldery". When the Labour Party split in 1921, Puntervold joined the more right-wing Social Democratic Labour Party, and became a leading figure in this party. He was also chairman of Arbeider-Politikken, which became the official party newspaper, from 1920 to 1927.

He belonged to the Labour Party again from 1927, but gradually backed out of active politics. He is known for having a personal relation with Lenin and later served as a lawyer for Leon Trotsky during his exile in Norway. Several letters between Leon Trotsky and Michael Puntervold are stored in the Harvard Library.