Tormod Petter Svennevig (24 May 1929 – 24 November 2016) 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 Centre Party. He was born in

Eide Parallel ATA (PATA), originally , also known as IDE, is a standard interface designed for IBM PC-compatible computers. It was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. The connection ...

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

, and took his Master of Arts degree in political science at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

in New York. He started working for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1955, and was stationed at the embassy in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

from 1956 to 1958,

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

from 1960 to 1963, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

delegation from 1966 to 1968 and in the Soviet Union again from 1971 to 1972. In between he was stationed in Norway. From 1972 to 1973 he was a member of

Korvald's Cabinet Korvald's Cabinet governed Norway between 18 October 1972 and 16 October 1973. The centre cabinet was led by Lars Korvald as Prime Minister and consisted of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Part ...

as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He represented the Centre Party and was also a member of

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 ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

and

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

. He has thus been one of the very few diplomats to hold an elected office in local politics in Norway. Svennevig was a member of the Defence Commission from 1974 to 1978. He was then the Norwegian ambassador to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

from 1979 to 1982, and doubled as ambassador to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Here, his tenure coincided with the

Iranian hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

. Then, after a period as a deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the

Ministry of Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation ( nl, Minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) is a Minister without Portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who is a member of the Cabinet and the Counci ...

. He was the Norwegian ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

from 1986 to 1991. He was then the Norwegian ambassador to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

from 1991 to 1994, doubling as ambassador to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. After his retirement he moved back to

Homborsund Homborsund is a village in Grimstad municipality in Agder county, Norway. Location The village is located on the Skagerrak coast in the Eide area of southern Grimstad. The village of Jortveit is located just north of Homborsund. For statistical ...

near Grimstad. Here he chaired the local branch of Norges Forsvarsforening. He has been decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svennevig, Tormod Petter 1929 births 2016 deaths People from Grimstad Norwegian civil servants Norwegian state secretaries Centre Party (Norway) politicians Bærum politicians Ambassadors of Norway to Iran Ambassadors of Norway to Pakistan Ambassadors of Norway to Poland Ambassadors of Norway to Hungary Ambassadors of Norway to Croatia Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian expatriates in Serbia Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union