Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonsson Quisling, whose name became synonymous with the word traitor, was born in Fyresdal, Norway on July 18, 1887 to Jon Lauritz (a priest) and Anna Caroline Bang Quisling. As a child, Quisling was interested in religion, metaphysics, and mathematics. At the age of 12, he invented a mathematical demonstration still taught in Norway today. His parents intended for him to have a career in the military. Quisling graduated from the military academy with the highest grades ever achieved there, earning him a presentation to the king. In 1917, he achieved the rank of captain and in 1931 became a major.
Quisling also had a diplomatic career. He served as a military attache to Petrograd, in the Soviet Union, from 1918 to 1919. From 1919 to 1921, he was a military attache in Helsinki, Finland. In the 1920s, Quisling was involved with the League of Nations, which was established after World War I to settle international disputes and to solve social and economic problems through international cooperation. In the early 1920s, Quisling served on the International Russian Relief Committee in the Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. There he met and married Maria Pasek. Quisling learned to speak Russian fluently and later wrote several books on the country. He also worked to help Balkan refugees. In the mid-1920s, Quisling was a delegate to the Armenian Commission of the League of Nations.
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