Harald Gram (18 September 1887 – 7 June 1961) was a Norwegian jurist, politician and

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...

. He was secretary general for the

Conservative Party of Norway The Conservative Party or The Right ( nb, Høyre, nn, Høgre, , H; se, Olgešbellodat) is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part of ...

for 22 years, deputy mayor of

Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

, member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1928 to 1936, and stipendiary magistrate in Oslo from 1936 to 1957. He was also noted for his work during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Personal life

Gram was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

as the son of former Prime Minister Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram (1846–1929) and Antoinette Augusta Brodtkorb (1846–1929). Several of his ancestors on both the maternal and paternal side had been politicians, including

Jens Jensen Gram Jens Jensen Gram (12 February 1779 – 2 November 1824) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He was born in Copenhagen as the son of Jens Gram. He studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1798, and graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 180 ...

Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gregers Winther Wulfsberg (26 October 1780 – 23 September 1846) was a Norwegian jurist and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814. Personal life Wulfsb ...

Bernt Sverdrup Maschmann Bernt Sverdrup Maschmann (17 October 1805 – 13 May 1869) was a Norwegian priest, politician and pharmacist. Bernt Maschmann was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of pharmacist Hans Henrich Maschmann. He earned his Cand.the ...

and Jens Aars. He was also a second cousin of Johan Fredrik and Mads Gram. Harald Gram was married to Ingrid Meyer (née Sønderaall, 1888–1969), fathering the well-known resistance fighter

Gregers Gram Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram (15 December 1917 – 13 November 1944) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and saboteur. A corporal and later second lieutenant in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 ( no, Kompani Linge) during the Second World ...

Career

After finishing his education as a jurist, taking the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree in 1911, Gram was engaged as secretary general of the

in 1914, a position he held until 1936. His first post as an elected politician was as a member of

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

in 1919. From 1925 to 1928 he served as deputy mayor. He then entered national politics, being elected to the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, representing

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. He was not-elected to Parliament in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, instead returning to Aker municipal council. He was also hired as the

stipendiary magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

in Oslo, serving from 1936 to 1957. Gram was a resistance pioneer during

, organising protests against efforts from

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germ ...

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...

to take control over professional organisations. In 1942 he was called 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 ...

to take over

Anders Frihagen Anders Rasmus Frihagen (28 January 1892 - 5 April 1979) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was Minister of Trade 1939–1940, government representative in Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden a ...

's duties at the Norwegian Legation there, leading an office responsible for financing the resistance work in Norway. This office, called ''Idrettskontoret'' ("The Sports Office"), was responsible for secret transfers of funds to the resistance movement, and the office also established a secret courier and communications service in Norway. The office was later reorganised, and appeared under the new name ''Sambandskontoret''. In 1944, his son was killed by German agents. The acting stipendiary magistrate while Gram was in Sweden was the Nazi

Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (7 December 1778 – 10 October 1849) was a Norwegian attorney. He was a member of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814 and served as the Norwegian Constituent Assembly secretary. Background Born in Kristiansu ...

. After the war, Gram continued in his office position in Oslo. He was also interested in

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

, and served as editor-in-chief for the magazine ''Norsk slektshistorisk tidsskrift'' from 1947 to 1959, and was a board member of the

Norwegian Genealogical Society Norwegian Genealogical Society ( no, Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, NSF) is a genealogical society in Oslo, Norway. It was founded on 22 October 1926 as the first exclusively Norwegian genealogical society. Among the founders were Stian Herlofsen ...

from 1947 to 1957. He was also the editor of ''Norges Statskalender'' in 1947 and 1948, as well as co-publishing the yearbook ''

Hvem er Hvem? ''Hvem er hvem?'' ( en, Who is Who?) was a Norwegian book series, presenting facts about notable persons from Norway. The first edition was issued in 1912, and the 14th edition came in 1994. In the 2008 edition, edited by Knut Olav Åmås, one thou ...

'' (" Who's Who?"). Gram was decorated as a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1947 and as a Commander of the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

References

External links

Family genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gram, Harald 1887 births 1961 deaths Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Norwegian jurists Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Politicians from Aker Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog