Helge Akre (1 March 1903 – 12 May 1986) was a Norwegian diplomat. He was a son of Herman Skyrud (1859–1913) and Oline Akre (1871–1967), and bore his mother's last name from 1933. He took his secondary education in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

with the

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1933. He worked as a translator and attorney before being hired in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 1936. He served in Brazil, Japan, China, Poland, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia in his early career. He was then the consul-general in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

from 1951 to 1958 and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

from 1958 to 1963. From 1963 he served as the Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China. From 1967 he led the Norwegian embassy in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He was decorated as a Knight First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1956, Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

and Officier d'Académie of France. He resided in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

References

1903 births 1986 deaths Norwegian expatriates in France University of Oslo alumni Ambassadors of Norway to China Ambassadors of Norway to Iceland Norwegian expatriates in Brazil Norwegian expatriates in Japan Norwegian expatriates in Poland Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union Norwegian expatriates in Czechoslovakia Norwegian expatriates in the Netherlands Norwegian expatriates in the United States Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau 20th-century Norwegian lawyers {{Norway-diplomat-stub