Per Bang (29 November 1922 – 24 April 2010) was a Norwegian journalist. He worked in ''

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' (Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed i ...

'' from 1946 to 2006, and became known for his column ''På nattbordet''.

Career

He was born in

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 ...

, and was a bookseller's apprentice when

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 ...

broke out. In 1943 he was taken as a "hostage" by the Nazi German occupants of Norway, imprisoned at Bredtveit concentration camp from 27 February to 5 April and then at

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

to 20 December 1943. After the war he considered finishing secondary education, but instead worked in the newspaper ''

Jarlsberg Jarlsberg was a former countship that forms a part of today's Vestfold county in Norway. The former countships of Jarlsberg and Larvik were merged into a county in 1821. Jarlsberg and Larvik's County (''Jarlsberg og Larviks amt'') were renamed ...

'' from 1945 to 1947. In 1946 he was hired in ''Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende'', later named ''

'', where he worked until 2006, from 1956 to 1974 as

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 ...

correspondent. He was formally a freelancer since 1989, and when retiring he was one of Norway's oldest active journalists. He became known for his column ''På nattbordet'', though unsigned, where he enquired businesspeople and others on what books they were reading. On occasions, the result would be subtly embarrassing for the interview object. He also worked with the catalogue for the art exhibition ''Norske Bilder''. He issued several books, both fiction and non-fiction. His debut was the short story collection ''Dommedag for deg'' (1952), and he also released the novel ''Stedfortredere'' (1981). His non-fiction books were mostly from his period as London correspondent, including ''Den Norske Klub i London 75 år'' (1962), ''Er de gale?'' (1967) and ''Londonguide'' (with Anne-Marie Bang, 1970). He was a member of the

Norwegian Authors' Union The Norwegian Authors' Union ( no, Den norske Forfatterforening, DnF) is an association of Norwegian authors. It was established in 1893 to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors' professional and economic interests. DnF also w ...

for some years, but backed out because he was more comfortable with the title "journalist". He received the Golden Pen award from the

Riksmål Society Riksmålsforbundet (; official translation: "The Riksmaal Society - The Society for the Preservation of Traditional Standard Norwegian") is the main organisation for Riksmål, an unofficial variety of the Norwegian language, based on the official ...

in 1990. Bang was active in

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and Nei til atomvåpen

He was a Roman Catholic, and was married twice. He died in April 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang, Per 1922 births 2010 deaths Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian journalists Norwegian newspaper reporters and correspondents Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian Roman Catholics Writers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian anti–nuclear weapons activists