Halvard Manthey Lange (16 September 1902 – 19 May 1970) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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, having served a total of 19 years. He became a member of the Labour Party in 1927. Two years later, in 1929, he earned a Master of Arts degree. He worked as a teacher 1930-35 and lectured 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 ...

1935-38. He was arrested by the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

occupying forces in 1942 and spent the rest of the war in various concentration camps. He was the

Norwegian foreign minister The Minister of Foreign Affairs ( nb, Utenriksministeren, nn, Utanriksministeren) is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 14 October 2021, the position has been held by Anniken Huitfeldt of the Lab ...

from 1946 till 1965, except for a month in 1963 during the administration of

John Lyng (22 August 1905 – 18 January 1978) was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He was the 24th prime minister of Norway from 28 August to 25 September 1963 in a coalition government consisting of the Conservative, Centre, Christ ...

. Just before taking the job of foreign minister, he became a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 1945; although he went on leave in 1946, when he took up the foreign minister's job, he remained officially on the committee until 1948. He was viewed as "right-wing" politician in the Norwegian Labour Party, partially because of his strong support for Western alignment. Lange was, together with

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

and

Gaetano Martino Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian politician, physician, and university teacher. Early life and medicine Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in Messina, Sicily, son of its Mayor Antonino Martino. He graduated in med ...

, one of the "three wise men" on the "Committee of Three" advising

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 ...

on ways to strengthen its non-military cooperation. A result of this work was the formation of the NATO Science Programme in 1957. His father was Nobel Peace Prize winner

Christian Lous Lange Christian Lous Lange (17 September 1869 – 11 December 1938) was a Norwegian historian, teacher, and political scientist. He was one of the world's foremost exponents of the theory and practice of internationalism. Early life and education He ...

and his great-grandfather was the historian

Christian C. A. Lange Christian Christoph Andreas Lange (August 13, 1810 – May 10, 1861) was a Norwegians, Norwegian historian and archivist. Lange was born in Bærum. After his ''examen artium'' he started studying theology and he took his comprehensive exam in the ...

. His brother Carl Viggo also became a member of Parliament.

References

External links

Nobel committee bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Halvard 1902 births 1970 deaths Foreign Ministers of Norway Nazi concentration camp survivors Labour Party (Norway) politicians University of Oslo faculty Members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian politicians