Per Ditlev-Simonsen (born 12 June 1932) is a Norwegian politician. He was the

mayor of Oslo The Mayor of Oslo is the chief executive of the Oslo. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Oslo city. List of mayors of oslo This is a list of ...

, representing the Conservative Party, from 1995 to 2007. He stepped down on 23 August 2007 following the Swiss bank-account scandal. Ditlev-Simonsen was an officer of the Norwegian Royal Guards, and he later attended Stanford University getting a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree. After college, Ditlev-Simonsen became a partner in his father's shipping company Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co (SDS) in 1955. He was a partner in the company until 1995. Ditlev-Simonsen was a Member of Parliament from 1981 to 1985, serving in the

Standing Committee of Finance Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...

. From 1989 to 1990 Ditlev-Simonsen was

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in the Cabinet of Jan P. Syse.

Personal life

Ditlev-Simonsen 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 ...

to ship owner

Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen (21 May 1906 – 1 February 2004) was a Norwegian ship owner. He was born in Oslo to Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen and Magdalena Pedersen, and married Lily Kaurin in 1907. They had the son Per Ditlev-Simonsen. Since 1929 he ...

and Lily Kaurin. He was a grandson of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Sr, and nephew of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. He was married to Benedicte Werring (d. 1990) from 1960, and to Turi Klaveness from 1992.

Swiss bank account tax probe

In August 2007, the presence of a hitherto unknown

Swiss bank account Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as Culture of Switzerland, emblematic of ...

was revealed. The revelation came after an acrimonious divorce involving his daughter,

Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen Cecilie is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Cecilie Broch Knudsen (born 1950), artist and rector of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts *Cecilie Henriksen (born 1986), football forward from Næstved, Denmark *Cecilie Løve ...

, the communications director of

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

. The account, which contained NOK 1.5 million had been inherited by Ditlev-Simonsen after his wife died in 1990, and he eventually admitted to not having paid the Norwegian

wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...

on it. The revelation caused several

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

politicians to call for Ditlev-Simonsen's resignation.

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004. Solberg w ...

, the head of the Conservative Party, asked that Ditlev-Simonsen refrain from active campaigning for his party ahead of the local elections scheduled for 10 September. Even if he had not resigned, the 75-year-old Ditlev-Simonsen was set to retire after the election. The incident was believed to be a cause of the Conservative's 4 percent drop in opinion polls, three weeks ahead of the election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ditlev-Simonsen, Per 1932 births Living people Members of the Storting Mayors of Oslo Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Stanford University alumni Norwegian businesspeople 20th-century Norwegian politicians Defence ministers of Norway