Vegard Sletten

Sletten was born in Kristiania as a son of newspaper editor Klaus Daae Sletten (1877–1946) and Margit Bruun (1875–1958). He was a nephew of Jakob Hveding Sletten and a maternal grandson of Christopher Bruun. From Kristiania his family soon moved to Stavanger via Trondhjem and Ålesund. He finished his secondary education in Stavanger in 1925, and studied at the University of Oslo, the University of Paris and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales between 1925 and 1928. He was hired as a journalist in Stavanger Aftenblad in 1929. In 1933 he married Synnøve Erika Gudmundson (1909–2001). ==World War II==

In 1940, Norway was invaded and occupied by Germany as a part of World War II. Nazification attempts of the press soon began, and when a member of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling was installed in Stavanger Aftenblad in 1941, Sletten quit his job. He then worked part-time as a teacher, He was arrested in Stavanger in June 1944, and spent time in Grini concentration camp from June 1944 to February 1945. He was then detained in Berg concentration camp until the liberation of Norway, which incidentally took place on his birthday. ==Post-war career==

After the war, Sletten returned to his old job in Stavanger Aftenblad, but quit after a few months, following a dispute over the appointment of Christian S. Oftedal as editor-in-chief. During Sletten's period as editor Verdens Gang developed into one of Norway's leading newspapers, more or less trebling its circulation. He was also a member of the Norwegian Language Council and of the board of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. As a pensioner he wrote Pressestøtte og pressefridom ('Press Support and Freedom of the Press', 1979), a book about the Norwegian press support. He also biographed Christopher Bruun in 1986; in 1964 he had issued a collection of Bruun's letters. He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and of the Order of the Lion of Finland. He died in December 1984 in Oslo. ==References==