Quisling is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for traitor or collaborator. The word originates from the surname of the Norwegian war-time leader Vidkun Quisling, who headed a domestic Nazi collaborationist regime during World War II.
Left to right: Vidkun Quisling seated next to Heinrich Himmler, Josef Terboven and Nikolaus von Falkenhorst in front of officers of the Waffen-SS, German Army and Air Force in 1941
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Quisling, c. 1919
Vidkun Quisling (far left) with his family, c. 1915
Quisling and his second wife, Maria
The Armenia commission of the League of Nations. 19 June 1925. From left, sitting, are C.E. Dupuis, Fridtjof Nansen, and G. Carle; standing are Pio Le Savio, and Vidkun Quisling.