Leif Høegh (21 April 1896 - 23 May 1974) 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 ...

shipowner. He founded the international shipping company known as Leif Höegh & Co in 1927.

Biography

Høegh 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 ...

(now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Nils Vogt Petersen (1852-1927) and Elise Olsen (1864-1952) He grew up in the neighborhood of Frogner where his father was employed by Westye Egeberg & Co. He graduated from the University of Kristiania (now University of Oslo) in 1916. In 1919, Høegh was employed by

Wilh. Wilhelmsen Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) is a Norwegian multinational maritime industry, maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the la ...

as agent for the shipping line between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Høegh ordered his first ship in 1927 and developed an enterprise with a leading position in the global maritime transportation sector. At the time of the Norwegian invasion by Nazi Germany on April 9, 1940, the entire Høegh fleet was outside German-controlled area. German officials order all Norwegian merchant ships sail to a neutral or German-controlled port. With his failure to comply, Høegh was sent to Bredtveit Prison. Subsequently released, Høegh fled from Norway during the later phase of

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 ...

. He later represented Norwegian maritime interests with the United Maritime Authority with headquarters in

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 ...

and

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He was an attendee of all

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defin ...

(''Bilderberg-gruppen'') meetings between 1954 and 1974 (except in 1955) and was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group. In 1966, his eldest son Ove Dines Høegh took his place in the board of directors and in 1974, his younger son Morten Westye Høegh became a board member.

Honors

* Order of St. Olav *

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 ...

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

References

External links

Høegh website
1896 births 1974 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo in shipping University of Oslo alumni Norwegian company founders Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group Recipients of the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Order of Vasa Order of the White Rose of Finland Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal {{norway-business-bio-stub

Biography

Honors

References

Related reading

External links