Knut Frydenlund (31 March 1927 – 26 February 1987) 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 the ...

diplomat and politician for the Labour Party who served as foreign minister from 1973–1981 and again from 1986–1987. Frydenlund was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

and began his diplomatic career in the 1950s, initially serving at the Norwegian embassy in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, and served in various diplomatic positions during the 1950s and the 1960s. In 1969 he was elected to parliament as a member of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

, and he became foreign minister in the Labour government in 1973. While Labour was out of power from 1981 to 1986, he was replaced as foreign minister by

Svenn Thorkild Stray Svenn Thorkild Stray (11 February 1922 – 20 May 2012) was a Norwegian politician and a member of the Conservative Party of Norway. He served as a member of parliament from 1958 to 1985, as president of the Nordic Council in 1968, and as fore ...

, but returned to the office in May 1986. In February 1987, following his return from a

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

meeting in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, he collapsed at

Oslo 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 ...

Fornebu Airport Oslo Airport, Fornebu ( no, Oslo lufthavn, Fornebu), was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redev ...

due to a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

and died soon afterwards at Ullevaal Hospital in Oslo.

References

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, "Norway's Foreign Minister Dies", February 26, 1987. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frydenlund, Knut 1927 births 1987 deaths Politicians from Drammen Norwegian diplomats Foreign Ministers of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian politicians