Carl Joachim Hambro (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The park in front of the Stortinget (Norwegian Parliament) features a statue of CJ Hambro

Carl Joachim Hambro (usually C.J. Hambro) (January 5, 1885 – 15 December 1964) was a leading politician from the Norwegian Conservative Party. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament from 1919 to 1957, party Chairman from 1928 to 1934, President of the Storting from June 30, 1926 to January 10, 1934 and from March 21, 1935 to December 3, 1945, and President of the Assembly of the League of Nations delegates in 1939-40 and 1946.

[edit] Role in World War II

He played a crucial role at the time of the German invasion in 9 April 1940. He was one of the few politicians who really understood Hitler's ambitions toward the country. Learning from what had happened to Czechoslovakia in 1938, Hambro was prepared, and with only six hours advance notice, he managed to organize the escape of king Haakon VII and his family, the government, the parliament and the gold reserves of the Bank of Norway. They all left on a train commissioned by Hambro just 30 minutes before the Germans arrived in Oslo. They had been delayed by the sinking of the German cruiser Blücher.

In the days after the invasion, Hambro worked actively from Sweden's capital Stockholm to correct the image the American journalist Leland Stowe had portrayed of the situation in Norway. While in Sweden, Hambro also was instrumental in organizing the Norwegian underground resistance movement via telephone.

His son was the politician Edvard Hambro.

[edit] External links

• Short biography of Hambro – From the homepage of user dagwood at ISP www.tdn.com (The Daily News, Longview, WA, USA)
• (Norwegian) C.J. Hambro war efforts – From the NorgesLexi internet encyclopedia's Norwegian War Encyclopedia
• http://home.no.net/pgjendem/artikler/pg_familien_Bjoerset.htm