Thore Albert Boye (27 October 1912 – 1 October 1999) was a Norwegian diplomat. 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 Supreme Court Justice Thorvald Boye (1871–1943) and Mia Esmarch (1880–1966). In 1945 he married Nøste Siem (1918–1999), a daughter of

Ole Siem Ole Siem (11 January 1882 – 1979) was a Norwegian naval officer, businessman and politician. Personal life Siem was born in Trondheim to Martin Olsen Siem and Gjertrud Christlock. He married Marie Augusta Ursin Holm in 1912, and was the fathe ...

and sister of

Martin Siem Ole Martin Siem (6 January 1915 – 3 November 1996) was a Norwegian businessperson and World War II resistance member. He was born in Horten as a son of naval commander Ole Siem (1882–1979) and Marie Augusta Ursin Holm (1888–1961). The ...

. He took the

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. ...

degree in 1936, and was an attorney and deputy judge in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

before being hired in the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

in 1938. After the Second World War reached Norway on 9 April 1940, and the government fled the capital, Boye set out on

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

s to catch up with them. After doing so he acted as a courier to Stockholm, returned to Molde where he followed the

flight of the Norwegian National Treasury The National Treasury of Norway consisted of 50 tonnes of gold worth in 1940 (approximately in 1940, or in 2015.) When the German invasion began, the gold was evacuated from Oslo first overland to Åndalsnes and then by ship to Tromsø. From Tro ...

. From Tromsø, he left the country together with the government and

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

. They reached London, where Boye became a secretary in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

-in-exile; from 1941 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 ...

-in-exile. He was promoted to assistant secretary in 1942. From 1944 he participated in the rebuilding after the

liberation of Northern Norway The Liberation of Finnmark was a military operation, lasting from 23 October 1944 until 26 April 1945, in which Soviet and Norwegian forces wrested away control of Finnmark, the northernmost county of Norway, from Germany. It started with a Sovie ...

, and in the spring of 1945 he was a secretary for the provisional government in Oslo, awaiting the return of the real government from exile after the war. He was a legation concellor in

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 1946 to 1948, assistant secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1948 to 1949, secretary-general for the Northern European group in

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 1949 to 1951. He was promoted to sub-director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1951 and deputy under-secretary of state in 1953. From 1955 to 1961 he worked as vice chief executive in the

SAS Group SAS AB (Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag), trading as SAS Group, is an airline holding company headquartered in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines and S ...

, and he served as the Norwegian ambassador to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

from 1961 to 1965. From 1962 he doubled as the ambassador to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He was then the permanent under-secretary of state (the highest-ranking civil position) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1971, then the Norwegian ambassador to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

from 1972 to 1977 and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

from 1977 to 1981. He was decorated as a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav in 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boye, Thore 1912 births 1999 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Norwegian civil servants Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian expatriates in Belgium 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Ambassadors of Norway to Italy Ambassadors of Norway to Greece Ambassadors of Norway to Spain Ambassadors of Norway to Sweden