Jens Mogens Boyesen (9 October 1920 – 20 November 1996) was a Norwegian diplomat and politician for the Labour Party.

Personal life

He 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 a son of deputy under-secretary of state Einar Theiste Boyesen (1888–1972) and Borghild Koppang (1888–1978). He had a younger brother Einar who was killed during the Second World War. Fleeing

occupied Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

after his involvement in

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 ...

was discovered, Einar Boyesen enrolled in the

Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

and was killed during a mission in Norway in March–April 1945. From 1944 to 1947 Jens Boyesen was married to Alix Dorry Sophie Theslöf. She later married

Erling Steen Erling Steen (6 March 1891 – 22 September 1961) was a Norwegian businessman, humanitarian leader and member of the Norwegian resistance movement in World War II. Personal life Steen was born in Kristiania as a son of Johan Steen (1856–193 ...

. In 1955 he married journalist Erle Sigrun Bryn, a daughter of Norwegian Maritime Director Erling Bryn.

Career

At the time Norway was invaded by Germany in 1940, Boyesen was a law student and member of the Labour Party. He had also a member of the socialist organization

Mot Dag Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and ...

. The Labour

cabinet Nygaardsvold __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 ...

fled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in order to avoid an early capitulation. Germany

for five years, whereas Boyesen became a part of the resistance movement. He was a messenger for both the Norwegian government-in-exile and the

Norwegian legation in Stockholm The Norwegian Legation in Stockholm played a significant role during the Second World War. Until 9 April 1940 the legation consisted of four persons, and at the end of the war about 1,100 persons were connected to the legation. Refugee cases were ...

, communicating on behalf of the so-called '' Kretsen'', an inner circle of the resistance movement for which he was the secretary. Within ''Kretsen'', he cooperated especially close with former Supreme Court Justice

Ferdinand Schjelderup Ferdinand Schjelderup (8 March 1886 – 30 July 1955) was a Norwegian mountaineer, Supreme Court Justice and resistance member during the German occupation of Norway. Personal life He was born in Kristiania as the son of Thorleif Frederik Schj ...

. Approaching the winter of 1944, Boyesen was no longer safe in Norway, and fled to Sweden. He worked as a secretary for the Norwegian legation in Stockholm until the liberation of Norway in 1945. After the war Boyesen finished his law studies, graduating as

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. ...

in 1947. He worked as a deputy judge from 1948, and then as an advisor in 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 ...

from 1949. He then spent many years as a State Secretary in

Torp's Cabinet Torp's Cabinet governed Norway between 19 November 1951 and 22 January 1955. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Oscar Torp Oscar Fredrik Torp (, 8 June 1893 – 1 May 1958) was a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He was party ...

, first in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1951 to 1954 and in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

from 1954 to 1955. He later returned as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1965, during

Gerhardsen's Fourth Cabinet Gerhardsen's Fourth Cabinet governed Norway between 25 September 1963 and 12 October 1965. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Lab ...

. From 1955 to 1963 he had been Norway's Permanent Representative to

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 ...

. When appointed, he was the youngest ambassador of Norway. In 1964 he was mentioned by Norwegian media as a candidate to take over as

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

after

Dirk Stikker Dirk Uipko Stikker (5 February 1897 – 23 December 1979) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Liberal State Party (LSP), co-founder of the defunct Freedom Party (PvdV) and of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (V ...

. Among the mentioned candidates was

Manlio Brosio Manlio Brosio (10 July 1897 – 14 March 1980) was an Italian lawyer, diplomat, politician and the fourth Secretary General of NATO between 1964 and 1971. Early life Brosio was born in Turin by Edoardo & Fortunata Curadelli, studied law in the ...

, who actually got the position. Boyesen was instead sent to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

to serve as ambassador to the international organizations seated in that city, including the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerlan ...

. He served from 1968 to 1973. When the

first cabinet Bratteli Bratteli's First Cabinet governed Norway between 17 March 1971 and 18 October 1972. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Trygve Bratteli. Bratteli governed his second cabinet between 1973 and 1976. On 8 May 1972 there was a cabinet reshuffle ...

assumed office in 1971, Boyesen was tipped by newspapers to take over as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. This did not happen. He instead served in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as Norwegian ambassador to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

and

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 ...

from 1973 to 1976, and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

as ambassador to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

from 1977 to 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyesen, Jens 1920 births 1996 deaths Diplomats from Oslo Mot Dag Norwegian resistance members Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian state secretaries Permanent Representatives to the European Union Permanent Representatives of Norway to NATO Politicians from Oslo