Gunnar Bøe (20 January 1917 – 9 December 1989) was a Norwegian economist and politician for the Labour Party.

Personal life

He was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

to Gunnar Olaf Bøe (1878–1959) and Ragnhild Sæthre (1883–1974). In 1940, he married Ragnhild Sæthre, born 1917. From 1930 to 1938, due to the marriage of his sister Karen Bøe, he was a brother-in-law of

Halvard Manthey Lange Halvard Manthey Lange (16 September 1902 – 19 May 1970) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1946-1963 and again from 1963-1965. He was also the longest serving Foreign Minister to date, ha ...

and uncle of

Even Lange Even Lange (born 5 June 1946) is a Norwegian economic historian. He was born in Oslo as the son of politician Halvard Manthey Lange (1902–1970) and teacher Aase Monsen (1911–1979). On the maternal side he was a nephew of Randi and Per Monsen, ...

Career

From 1934 to 1936, he was a member of the board of the Labour Party in Bergen. His father held a

doctorate in medicine A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

, but Bøe enrolled in economics studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1936. In 1940, he received his

cand.oecon. Candidatus oeconomices (male) or Candidata oeconomices (female), often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Education in Denmark, Danish, Háskóli Íslands, Icelandic and Higher education in Norway, Norwegian universities ...

degree. In the same year, the Norwegian Price Directorate hired him, but, because Norway was invaded by Germany, he fought against the invaders in the Norwegian Campaign and became a member of the

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

resistance. In 1942, the Nazi authorities arrested him. From July 1942 to December 1943, he was held in Grini concentration camp. From 1943 to war's end, he was held in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After the 1945 liberation, he was a secretary for Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen. From 1945, he was also named to the Economic Coordination Council. From 1946, he served on the Money and Finance Council. In August 1946, he was appointed a State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. In January 1948, he left the state secretary position, and continued his research career. From 1948 to 1952, he was a research fellow at the University of Oslo. From 1952 to 1955, he held the same position at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

(NIT). In 1955, he published his thesis ''Ren profitt under fri konkurranse.'' From 1955 to 1956, he was a technical adviser for the United Nations commissioner for Europe. In 1956, he received his

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

From 1956, he was a professor at the

. From 9 April 1959 to 1 September 1962, he was the Norwegian Minister of Pay and Prices. In 1962, he left politics for good, resuming his academic career. From 1964 to 1967, he was NIT deputy rector. From 1969 to 1972, he was NIT rector. He didn't publish many academic books or articles. Bøe was a member of the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (

NTNF The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( no, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd) or NTNF was the first of five research councils established in Norway. It existed from 1946 until the end of 1992, when the f ...

) research council from 1946 to 1947, the board of directors of the

Bank of Norway Norges Bank / Noregs Bank is the central bank of Norway. The bank shall promote economic stability in Norway. Norges Bank also manages the Government Pension Fund of Norway and the bank’s own foreign exchange reserves. History The history of ...

from 1947 to 1953, the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (

NAVF The Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (Norges almenvitenskapelige forskningsråd, NAVF) was one of Norway's five research councils. It was established in 1949. NAVF was responsible for funding the natural sciences. In 1993, t ...

) from 1957 to 1963 and 1974 to 1981, and the Postal Service ( Postverket) from 1969 to 1972. He was a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters from 1958 and the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences ( no, Norges Tekniske Vitenskapsakademi, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Aca ...

from 1964. He died in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Suspected Espionage

The Police Security Service (PST, POT) suspected Bøe of being a Soviet spy. Soviet documents released in the 1990s showed that he could be very outspoken in meetings with Soviet civil servants. He had a codename, "George," and had a series of meetings with KGB Rezident Aleksandr Startsev. By 1967, POT had bugged Bøe's phone, but they never found hard evidence to prove their suspicions. In 1984, POT tried to speak with him about his Soviet contacts, but were not successful. In July 2014, new information came to light with the release of more documents from KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin.Thorenfeldt, Gunnar; Blindheim, Anne Marte; Stang, Leif; Thømt Ruud, Hans-Martin; and Frich Flydal, Eiliv, (8 August 2014). ''Sjokkpåstand i KGB-arkiv: Ap-statsråd solgte regjeringsdokumenter til KGB'', ''Dagbladet'' (in Norwegian)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boe, Gunnar 1917 births 1989 deaths Norwegian state secretaries Government ministers of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the Norwegian Institute of Technology Rectors of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian economists