Kurt Mosbakk (born 21 November 1934) is 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 ...

politician for the Labour Party. He was Minister of Trade and Shipping from 1986 to 1987, when the ministry was closed; he continued on as the Minister of Trade and Shipping Affairs at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs until June 1988. He served as the acting County Governor of

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

county for about five months during 1990.

Personal life

He was born on 21 November 1934 in the municipality of Orkdal in Sør-Trøndelag county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He was the son of a joiner and a housewife, Henrik and Jenny Marthea Mosbakk.

Education and career

Mosbakk took his primary and secondary education in

Orkanger Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the Trondhe ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

respectively, before taking higher education at the

Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration 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 ...

from 1955 to 1958 and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

from 1965 to 1966. From 1964 to 1965, under the

fourth cabinet Gerhardsen Gerhardsen's Fourth Cabinet governed Norway between 25 September 1963 and 12 October 1965. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Lab ...

, he worked as a personal secretary (today known as political advisor) in the Ministry of Defence. He had been chairman of the Workers' Youth League in Oslo from 1961 to 1963, and deputy chairman of the Workers' Youth League nationally from 1964 to 1967. The chairman at that time was Ola Teigen. He worked as an office clerk for the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national union ...

from 1969 to 1974. During this period, he had a career in local politics as deputy mayor of

Lørenskog is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lørenskog. Lørenskog was separ ...

municipality and a member of the Akershus

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 Irel ...

, both from 1971 to 1974. He chaired the county chapter of the Labour Party from 1969 to 1974. He also served as a deputy representative to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 ...

during the term 1973–1977. Mosbakk then worked as chief administrative officer in

Finnmark County Municipality Finnmark County Municipality ( no, Finnmark fylkeskommune, sme, Finnmárkku fylkkagielda) was the regional governing administration for the old Finnmark county in Norway. It was dissolved on 31 December 2019 when Finnmark county was merged into ...

from 1976 to 1986. In 1986, he was appointed to be the Minister of Trade and Shipping in the

second cabinet Brundtland Brundtland's Second Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative Willoch's Second Cabinet, and sat between 9 May 1986 and 16 October 1989. It was replaced by the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat cabi ...

. As the Ministry of Trade and Shipping was discontinued as of 1 January 1988, Mosbakk was transferred to a new position, that of Chief of Trade and Shipping Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He left on 13 June 1988. He returned to civil life as chief administrative officer in Østfold County Municipality from 1986 to 1997, with the exception of half a year as the acting County Governor of Finnmark in 1990. Mosbakk was a member of the board of

Framfylkingen Framfylkingen is the children's and families' organisation of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen (LO)), the activities of which include popular education and socialist education. Earlier it was closely associated ...

from 1972 to 1974 and the

Norwegian State Housing Bank The Norwegian State Housing Bank ( no, Husbanken) is a Norwegian Government agency responsible for the housing politics in Norway. The main tool for the bank is mortgages in newly constructed houses. About half of all houses after World War II in ...

from 1978 to 1986. He was then chairman of the board of the Norwegian State Housing Bank from 1988 to 1998, and of the bank SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge from 1989 to 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosbakk, Kurt 1934 births Living people Labour Party (Norway) politicians Deputy members of the Storting Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway Akershus politicians County governors of Norway Norwegian civil servants People from Orkdal Norwegian School of Economics alumni Harvard University alumni