Gunnar Hellesen

Gunnar Fredrik Hellesen (born February 23, 1913 in Haugesund , Fylke Rogaland ; † July 7, 2005 ) was a Norwegian politician of the Høyre , who was a member of the Storting for eight years , from 1969 to 1973 governor (Fylkesmann) of Fylke Rogaland and between 1970 and 1971 Minister of Defense in the government of Prime Minister Per Borten .

Because of his participation in the resistance against National Socialism and the occupation by the German Wehrmacht , he was sentenced to death by the third senate of the Reich Court Martial in Berlin with nine other Norwegians on February 24, 1941 for alleged espionage. After Sven Hedin about Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst with Adolf Hitler successfully for the pardon had used the condemned, which was death penalty replaced on 17 June 1941 by Adolf Hitler through ten years of hard labor.

Life

Second World War, sentenced to death and pardon

Hellesen, son of the captain Gunnar Elias Hellesen and his wife Gina Johannessen, took up a job as an office clerk at an insurer after attending secondary and commercial school in 1929, and in 1936 switched to the marine insurance company A / S Haugesund Sjøforsikringsselskap as an insurance agent . He was also chairman of the Haugesund Sports Association from 1937 to 1938 and completed a training course in Sweden in 1938 .

After the beginning of the Second World War , Hellesen, who in 1940 was chairman of the Høyre (Unge Høyre) youth association in Haugesund, began his military service in the armed forces , but was arrested shortly after the occupation of Norway by the German Wehrmacht during the Weser exercise . Because of his participation in the resistance against National Socialism and the occupation by the German Wehrmacht , he was elected by the third senate of the Reich Court Martial in Berlin together with his compatriots Sigurd Jakobsen, Helge Børseth, Siegmund Brommeland, Peter Andree Hjelmervik, Siegmund Rasmussen, Gunnar Carlsen, Knud Gjerstad, Christian Oftedahl and Frithiof Lund were sentenced to death on February 24, 1941 for alleged espionage . After Sven Hedin, through Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, had successfully campaigned for the pardon of the convicted by Adolf Hitler, Adolf Hitler replaced the death penalty on June 17, 1941 with ten years of forced labor.

Post war, insurance manager and local politician

After the end of the war, Hellesen resumed his work for A / S Haugesund Sjøforsikringsselskap , initially as head of the acquisition department until 1959 and then as deputy director between 1959 and 1969. In the meantime he had completed further training in Denmark in 1953 .

In addition to his professional activity, he began his political engagement in local politics and was a member of the Haugesund city council between 1945 and 1951 and then a member of the city council between 1951 and 1955. At the same time he was again chairman of the Unge Høyre in the city in 1945 and from 1947 to 1958 a member of the state board of the Unge Høyre .

In 1955 he became mayor of Haugesund for the first time and held this office until 1958. Then he was again a member of the city council from 1958 to 1959, to which he belonged again from 1959 to 1963, after he was again briefly mayor of Haugesund in 1959. At the same time he was from 1955 to 1956 and again from 1959 to 1960 member of the board of the Høyre in Fylke Rogaland and next to that from 1958 to 1962 member of the state board of the Høyre.

Storting member and Fylkesmann von Rogaland

After Hellesen became a vice member of the Storting in 1958, he was elected member of the Storting for the conservative Høyre on September 11, 1961 and represented the interests of Fylke Rogaland there until the election of September 8, 1969 .

During his membership in parliament he was vice-chairman of the protocol committee of the Storting between January 13, 1961 and October 19, 1962 and later chairman of the Storting committee for finances and customs from October 15, 1965 to September 30, 1967 and October 1967 and September 30, 1969 Chairman of the Finance Committee.

As the successor to Paul Ingebretsen , he became District President ( Fylkesmann ) of Fylke Rogaland in 1969 and held this office until he was replaced by Konrad B. Knutsen in 1973.

Defense Minister and Economic Manager

As part of a cabinet reshuffle, Hellesen was appointed Minister of Defense (Forsvarsminister) by Prime Minister Per Borten on June 5, 1970, succeeding Otto Grieg Tidemand , who in turn took over the office of Minister for Trade and Shipping. He held the office of minister until the end of Borten's term of office on March 17, 1971.

After leaving the government, in 1972 he became chairman of the board of the Oljedirektoratet , the state administrative body that manages the country's oil industry, and held this position until 1978. From 1973 to 1980 he was director of Den norske Creditbank based in Haugesund, chairman of the board of Industrifondet between 1973 and 1976 and chairman of the supervisory board of A / S Haugesund Sjøforsikringsselskap from 1973 to 1983 . In addition, between 1974 and 1984 he chaired the works meetings of Norsk Olje A / S , a subsidiary of Statoil .

Hellesen, who was commander of the Order of Saint Olav in 1979 for his services , was chairman of the Norwegian Underwater Technology Center (Norsk Undervannsteknologisk Senter) between 1980 and 1983 and chairman of the board of the Haugesund Mekaniske Verksted A / S shipyard .

Publications

• Vår sikkerhets- og forsvarsppolitikk , Oslo 1971
• Benådet , autobiography , Oslo 1986

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Storting
• Biography in the store norske leksikon