Håkon Wexelsen Freihow (6 April 1927 – 1 March 2019) was a Norwegian diplomat. He graduated in political science from 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 1956, and started working for the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

in the same year. Early diplomatic posts include services at the embassy in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

embassy in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was an embassy councillor in Belgium from 1971, and a deputy under-secretary of state in 1979. He served as the Norwegian ambassador to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1981 to 1989 and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

from 1992 to 1995. As a side effect of the latter position, he was also the ambassador to

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

from 1993 and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

from 1994. From 1989 to 1992 he was a "general commissioner" for the Norwegian contribution to Seville Expo '92. It generated a lot of media coverage in the three years. After the project was finished, it was criticized for a budget deficit of . Freihow had been responsible for the daily affairs of the project, together with

Helga Hernes Helga Marie Hernes (born 16 January 1938) is a German-born Norwegian political scientist, diplomat, and politician for the Labour Party. Educated in the United States, she moved to Norway following her marriage to Norwegian sociologist and poli ...

and vice general commissioner Tore Tanum. He is son of Rev.

Halvdan Wexelsen Freihow Halvdan Wexelsen Freihow (22 November 1883 – 20 December 1965) was a Norwegian priest and culturist. He was born in Tana, and graduated with the cand.theol. degree in 1909. In 1937 he earned the dr.philos. degree for a thesis on the psychologic ...

and the father of writer Halfdan Wexel Freihow. He died in 2019.Death announcement, ''Aftenposten'' 6 March 2019 p. 29

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freihow, Haakon Wexelsen 1927 births 2019 deaths University of Oslo alumni Norwegian civil servants Ambassadors of Norway to Japan Ambassadors of Norway to Portugal Ambassadors of Norway to Cape Verde Ambassadors of Norway to Guinea-Bissau Ambassadors of Norway to Morocco Norwegian expatriates in Mexico Norwegian expatriates in Spain Norwegian expatriates in Belgium