Paul Gruda Koht (7 December 1913 – 26 March 2002) was a Norwegian diplomat.

Personal life

He was born in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

as a son of

Halvdan Koht Halvdan Koht (7 July 1873 – 12 December 1965) was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party. Born in the north of Norway to a fairly distinguished family, he soon became interested in politics and history. Star ...

(1873–1965) and Karen Grude Koht 1871–1960. He was a brother of

Åse Gruda Skard Åse Gruda Skard (née Koht) (2 December 1905 – 13 August 1985) was a Norwegian university professor, child psychologist and author. She was a noted pioneer in the field of childhood development and psychology. Biography She was born at ...

. He was a grandson of

Paul Steenstrup Koht Paul Steenstrup Koht (28 August 1844 – 26 August 1892) was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Liberal Party. He was the father of Halvdan Koht, historian and Labour Party politician. Having developed a penchant for Greek and Roman poe ...

and Martin Adolf Grude, and through his sister he was a brother-in-law of

Sigmund Skard Sigmund Skard (31 July 1903 – 26 May 1995) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and professor of American literature. Biography Skard was born in Kristiansand, Norway. He was a son of educators Matias Skard (1846–1927) and Gyda Christensen (1868� ...

and uncle of

Halvdan Skard Halvdan Skard (born 1 December 1939) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Oslo as a son of Åse Gruda Skard and Sigmund Skard, and through Åse the grandson of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht. He has two sisters Toril ...

, Målfrid Grude Flekkøy and Torild Skard. In January 1938 he married architect Grete Sverdrup (1913–1996).

Career

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education at

Stabekk Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway, west of Oslo. It is predominantly a residential area, with many residents commuting to Oslo. As of 2005 the population was 6,261. Bærum has the highest income per capita and the hi ...

in 1932, and graduated from the University of Oslo (Royal Frederick University) in 1938 with the cand.jur. degree. He also studied briefly at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and in Paris. In 1938 he was hired as a secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was

headed Headed may refer to: *A headed phrase, in linguistics * Headed notepaper See also * * Head (disambiguation) The head is the part of an animal or human that usually includes the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Head or Heads may also refer to: ...

by his father. He was stationed at the Norwegian legation in București for some time, but left in November 1939. Following the German attack on Norway in April 1940 he briefly served as liaison for French forces fighting at Narvik, before serving as a diplomat in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. After the war Paul Koht became assistant secretary, in 1947. He served as chargé d'affaires in

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 1950 to 1951, then at OEEC and

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 ...

from 1951 to 1953. In 1953 he was appointed deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He remained there until serving as chargé d'affaires in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

from 1956 to 1957, and the Norwegian ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from 1958 to 1962, to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

from 1963 to 1968, to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1968 to 1975 and to Denmark from 1975 to 1982. He died in March 2002 in Oslo, and was buried at

Nordre gravlund Nordre Gravlund is a cemetery located between Ullevål University Hospital and the district of Sagene in Oslo, Norway. History The cemetery was first established on the site in 1884. The cemetery has been expanding several times and now has an ...

in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koht, Paul 1913 births 2002 deaths People from Bærum University of Oslo alumni Norwegian civil servants Norwegian people of World War II Ambassadors of Norway to the United States Ambassadors of Norway to West Germany Ambassadors of Norway to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Norway to Denmark Norwegian expatriates in Romania Norwegian expatriates in Japan Norwegian expatriates in Portugal Norwegian expatriates in France Burials at Nordre gravlund