Beint Kristian Bentsen (25 July 1917 – 2003) was a Norwegian

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

er and politician for the Christian Democratic Party. He is best known as county mayor of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

in the 1970s, but was also a member of four different municipal councils, an unusual achievement. He was born in Nes i Vest-Agder. He started a career as a banker from 1940, and was hired as an office manager in

Den norske Creditbank Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank (DnB). The bank was based in Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most pop ...

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies ...

in 1959. He was promoted to director in 1966, and remained there until 1984. From 1984 to his retirement in 1986 he worked as a consultant for Sandnes municipality. He was a member of the municipal councils of both Nes i Vest-Agder,

Madla Madla is a borough of the city of Stavanger which lies in the southwestern part of the large municipality of Stavanger in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the western part of the city, along the coast of the Hafrsfjorden. The borough has a ...

and Høyland before moving to Sandnes. He served as a municipal councilman there from 1965 to 1976. During his local-political career he held a number of important positions: he was deputy mayor of Madla from 1958 to 1959, and in Sandnes he was deputy mayor in 1972 and 1973 and mayor in 1974 and 1975. Since 1968 he was also a member of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

, and following the 1975 local elections he was elected as county mayor () for the term 1976 to 1979. He had previously been deputy county mayor from 1972 to 1976. The opposition's candidate for county mayor, Christian August Thoring of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

, received 24 votes in the county council, whereas Bentsen received 47. Bentsen was also involved in the

scouting movement Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

, in the

Norwegian Missionary Society The Norwegian Missionary Society or the Norwegian Mission Society ( no, Det Norske Misjonsselskap, NMS) is the first and oldest missionary organization in Norway. It was started by a group of approximately 180 Stavanger residents in August 1842, ...

and in various congregational councils within the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

. He was married since 1942, had three children, and lived in Sandnes in his later life. He died in early 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentsen, Beint 1917 births 2003 deaths Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Vest-Agder politicians Politicians from Stavanger Mayors of places in Rogaland Chairmen of County Councils of Norway People from Sandnes Norwegian bankers