Real name Abraham Lauritz Jonsson. Leader of
Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian national-socialist party prior to
World War II, Vidkun Quisling became the first person in history to announce a coup during a news broadcast when he assumed leadership of the country after King
Haakon VII and the government fled to
England pursuant to the German invasion in 1940 (which Quisling had requested of
Adolf Hitler during a visit the previous year). The coup failed within a few days. Quisling continued to cooperate with the invasion forces led by
Josef Terboven, who named him Minister President in 1942.
Also the last person in history to receive the death penalty in Norway, on October 24, 1945.
After World War II, the name Quisling became in many languages a synonym for traitor.