Kolbjørn Sigurd Werner Varmann (23 December 1904 – 13 August 1980) was a Norwegian priest and politician for the Labour Party. He is known as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1955 to 1960, and also as County Governor of Finnmark.

Early life and career

He was born in

Eid Eid as a name may refer to: Islamic holidays An Eid is a Muslim religious festival: * ''Eid Milad un Nabi'', alternate name for Mawlid (, "Birth of the Prophet"), the date of observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad * Eid al ...

as a son of as a son of Anders Kornelius Karlsen (1871–1940) and Astrid Langeland (1879–1932). He enrolled as a student in 1924, and graduated with the

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in 1929. He worked as a school teacher in Nordfjordeid from 1930 to 1931 before becoming

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in the

Diocese of Hålogaland The Diocese of Hålogaland ( no, Hålogaland bispedømme, historically: ) was a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covered the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within all of Northern Norway (including Nordland, Troms, and F ...

in 1931. While holding this position, he founded the upper secondary school in Tysfjord. From 1935 he chaired the school board in the municipality, and in 1936 he became vicar in Tysfjord. During World War II he was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement, organizing illegal emigration to Sweden. He was arrested by the Nazi German authorities, but survived and was decorated with the Defence Medal 1940–1945.

National politics

After the war he returned to Tysfjord as a vicar. He was also the dean of Nordre Salten, but left both positions in 1963. He was also a lieutenant in the Home Guard from 1946 to 1958. He became involved in politics, serving as mayor of Tysfjord from 1945 to 1955, and was a member of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county council during the same period. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from

in 1950, and was re-elected on three occasions, the last term ending in 1965. From January 1955 to April 1960 he was the Minister of Transport and Communications in Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet. During this time his seat in parliament was taken by

Margith Johanne Munkebye Margith Johanne Munkebye (15 October 1911 – 28 November 2000) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was born in Bodø. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Nordland in 1958, and was re-elected on three occasion ...

and Rolf Hellem. His career ended with the post of County Governor of Finnmark, which he held from 1965 to 1974. He was appointed in 1963, but since he was a parliament member, Anders Aune served as Acting County Governor. He was also a deputy board member of the Office of the Auditor General of Norway, a board member of ''Utbyggingsfondet for Nord-Norge''. He was awarded the

HM The King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold in 1980, but never physically received the medal as he died in August 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varmann, Kolbjorn 1904 births 1980 deaths People from Eid, Norway Norwegian priest-politicians Norwegian resistance members Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Nordland Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway County governors of Norway Ministers of Transport and Communications of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold