Vebjørn Tandberg (16 September 1904–30 August 1978) was a Norwegian electronics engineer. Tandberg was born at Bodø in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

, Norway. He attended the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

(1930). He founded '' Tandbergs Radiofabrikk'' of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in 1933 and made it a great success. In addition to his technical and commercial achievements, Tandberg was a pioneer in providing good conditions for his workforce. He instituted a 42-hour week and three weeks' annual vacation for all in 1937, and a free pension and health insurance scheme for all from 1938. A four-week vacation for all employees over 40 years of age was introduced in 1947, while the working week was reduced to 39 hours in 1948. There was a five-day work week during the summer months from 1955, over the full year from 1969. His life ended under tragic circumstances—

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

—after financial problems at the radio factory and the ensuing political maneuverings had left him without control so that he was frozen out from his life's work. Subsequently, Tandbergs Radiofabrikk declared bankruptcy and underwent corporation reorganization .

References

Other sources

* Dahl, Helmer; Strømme Svendsen, Arnljot (1995). ''Vebjørn Tandberg - triumf og tragedie''. Fagbokforlaget. 263 pp. .
History of Tandbergs Radiofabrikk 1933–78
1904 births 1978 suicides Norwegian electronics engineers Norwegian company founders Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Suicides in Norway Tandberg People from Bodø 1978 deaths {{norway-business-bio-stub