Gudrun Dorothea Ræder (née Martius; 21 April 1908 – 26 September 1998) was a Norwegian diplomat. She was the first female Norwegian diplomat, serving at the legation in London.

Personal life

Ræder was born in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

on 21 April 1908, a daughter of Rudolf Ancus Martius and Dorothea Robertson. In 1940 she married Johan Georg A. Ræder. They were the parents of Peter Nicolay Ræder (born 1943). She died in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

in 1998.

Career

Ræder was appointed at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1938, and served as secretary in London from 1938 to 1939, thus becoming the first female Norwegian diplomat. From November 1939 to March 1940 she took part in negotiations on trade agreements between Norway and Germany, and between Norway and Great Britain, as secretary for both the Norwegian delegations. In April 1940, after the

German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Gudrun Martius made her way to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, where she worked a period for the

Norwegian embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Norway, excluding honorary consulates. In countries without Norwegian representation, Norwegian citizens can seek assistance from public officials in the foreign services of any of the other Nordic countr ...

. She eventually moved to London, where both her sister and her future husband Johan Georg Ræder were stationed at the embassy. Travelling by plane to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, and further with ship from

Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo * Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...

via Iceland to Scotland, she arrived in London on 7/8 August 1940. Following ongoing conflicts around

Halvdan Koht Halvdan Koht (7 July 1873 – 12 December 1965) was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party. Born in the north of Norway to a fairly distinguished family, he soon became interested in politics and history. Star ...

, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the

Norwegian government-in-exile __NOTOC__ Nygaardsvold's Cabinet (later becoming the Norwegian government-in-exile, Norwegian: ''Norsk eksilregjering'') was appointed on 20 March 1935, the second Labour cabinet in Norway. It brought to an end the non-socialist minority Governm ...

, Martius replaced Unni Diesen as secretary for Koht from end of August, until Koht's resignation in November 1940. Having married Ræder in 1940, she continued working for the Ministry, and from 1941 to 1943 she was personal secretary for the new Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Trygve Lie Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...

. She issued the memoir book ''De uunnværlige flinke'' in 1975. The book became noted for reporting about warning messages received at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of the

in 1940.

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rader, Gudrun Dorothea 1908 births 1998 deaths People from Göttingen Norwegian diplomats Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian memoirists German emigrants to Norway