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Carl Joachim Hambro (1885-1964)
Encyclopedia
Carl Joachim "C. J." Hambro (5 January 1885 – 15 December 1964) was a Norwegian journalist, author and leading politician
representing the Conservative Party
. A ten-term member of the Parliament of Norway, Hambro served as President of the Parliament for twenty of his thirty-eight years in the legislature. He was actively engaged in international affairs, including work with the League of Nations
(1939–40), delegate to the UN General Assembly (1945–1956) and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
(1940–1963).
in the 1720s. The family was Jewish. The family member Calmer Joachim Hambro (1747–1806) relocated to Copenhagen
in the late eighteenth century, and became a businessman. One of his sons, Joseph Hambro, moved on to London
and founded Hambros Bank
with his son Carl Joachim Hambro
. Another son (and Joseph's brother) Edvard Isaach Hambro (1782–1865) moved to Bergen, Norway
where he became a merchant in the early nineteenth century. Edvard Isaach Hambro fathered Carl Joachim Hambro (1813–1873), who in turn fathered the school manager Edvard Isak Hambro
(1847–1909).
C. J. Hambro was born in Bergen as a son of Edvard Isak Hambro and Nicoline Christine Harbitz (1861–1926, later known as Nico Hambro). He had three sisters, among them the educator Elise Hambro. He was a distant descendant of Johan Randulf Bull
, and thereby a first cousin of Edvard Bull, Sr.
, Johan Peter Bull
and Francis Bull
.
From June 1910, C. J. Hambro was married to priest's daughter Gudrun "Dudu" Grieg (1881–1943). They had the sons Edvard Hambro
, Vilhelm Cato Grieg Hambro, Carl Joachim Hambro
and Johan Randulf Bull Hambro
; all born between 1911 and 1915. Through Edvard, he was also a grandfather of Christian Hambro
. Three years after his wife died, in February 1946, C. J. Hambro married actress Gyda Christensen
(1872–1964) whom he had befriended in 1918.
in 1902, and enrolled in philology studies at the Royal Frederick University
. While studying, he took many excursions, working as translator, literary critic, part-time teacher and even participant on the research vessel Michael Sars. He was also a journalist in Morgenbladet
, from 1903 to 1907. He finally received his cand.mag.
degree in 1907.
He was involved in the Norwegian Students' Society, which he chaired in 1908, 1909 and in the autumn of 1911. He chaired the Conservative Students' Association
in 1908, 1910 and 1911, and was also vice chairman of Filologisk Forening in 1904. From 1910 to 1913 he was the secretary of the Norse Federation
, and edited its periodical from 1911 to 1916. He was also involved in association football, and chaired the club Akademisk FK and was vice chairman (in 1904) of the fledgling Football Association of Norway
.
After graduating from the university, he was a teacher at Kristiania Commerce School
(1907) and Vestheim School (1908–1912). In 1913 he became chief editor of Morgenbladet, a post he held until 1919. He then focused on pursuing a political career, having been elected in the autumn of 1918. He did return to the press as editor of the magazine Ukens Revy
from 1921 to 1929.
Ukens Revy had been distinctively pro-German and anti-British during the First World War. During the war, Hambro got entangled in British affairs. In January 1917, the United Kingdom had ceased its coal exports to Norway. During the negotiations between Knudsen's Cabinet's representatives and the British legation in Kristiania, Hambro wrote an editorial in Morgenbladet which suggested expulsion of the British diplomats if Norwegian needs were not met. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
met with the Norwegian ambassador in the UK, and demanded that Knudsen's Cabinet either deplore Morgenbladet' s statements or prosecute Hambro legally. Hambro's actions were defended by the Norwegian parliamentary opposition, including the Conservative Party. After some rounds of talks and negotitations, the whole case blew over.
Hambro also marked himself as a critic of socialism. In 1918, in the wake of the Russian Revolution
, Hambro suggested that a part of the political opposition, namely the revolutionary socialist press, be met with harsher regulations. He wrote in Morgenbladet: "Perhaps our authorities should be more attentive towards the socially subversive agitation long practiced by our socialist leaders in writing and speech".
He chaired the Conservative Press Association from 1913 to 1920, Ukens Revy from 1919 to 1929, the Norwegian News Agency
from 1920 to 1946 (vice chairman 1918 to 1920), and the Norse Federation from 1923 to 1946 (board member 1913 to 1915, vice chairman 1915 to 1923). He was the vice chairman of Det Nye Teater
from 1928 to 1932, a board member of Morgenbladet from 1921 to 1933 as well as of the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture
. He was a supervisory council member of Nationaltheatret
.
(Oslo), and in 1908 he became a board member of the Conservative Party there. He was selected for Kristiania's school board, being a member from 1913 to 1921 and chairman from 1921 to 1923.
In the Norwegian parliamentary election, 1918
he stood on the ballot in Uranienborg
and was elected to the Parliament of Norway in that single-member constituency. After the change to plural-member constituencies he was re-elected from the constituency Kristiania in 1921
, and, after it changed its name to Oslo, in 1924
, 1927
, 1930
, 1933
, 1936
, 1945
, 1949
and 1953
. He was a member of Parliament from 1919 to 1957; amounting to ten consecutive terms in total (the 1940 election was called off because of World War II).
C. J. Hambro served as President of the Parliament from 30 June 1926 to 10 January 1934 and from 21 March 1935 to 3 December 1945, and President of the Assembly of the League of Nations
delegates in 1939–40 and 1946. He had originally voted against Norway's accession to the League of Nations, as one of only three representatives from his party to do so, citing that the Versailles Treaty did not create decent grounds for such an international organization. He chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs
from 1925 to 1945, and was then a member from 1945 to 1957. From 1945 to 1957 he was also a member of the Enlarged Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs
. In the Election Committee
of the Parliament, he was the chairman from 1928 to 1945 and deputy chairman from 1945 to 1957.
C. J. Hambro served as acting party chairman in 1926, and party chairman from 1928 to 1934 and 1945 to 1954. He was also a central board member from 1934 to 1964. He was never a member of any government, despite that his party formed several cabinet during his parliamentary tenure. He instead chose to work as chairman of his party as well as its parliamentary group; the two posts had actually become open to him when Ivar Lykke
chose to form his cabinet in 1926.
. He did not follow the group Fedrelandslaget
, which was vying for conservative support, in their nationalism. In the so-called "Greenland Question", he arbitrated with Denmark
in 1923–1924 when Denmark claimed sovereignty over Greenland
, and had meant that Denmark acted unjustified. However, when forces in and outside of the then-Agrarian
government annexed "Erik the Red's Land
" in 1931, Hambro was strictly against it. The Agrarian Party revenged itself on Hambro by voting him down as President of the Parliament in 1934, but Hambro won support from the adversaries in the Labour Party to regain the post. He nurtured a personal friendship with figures such as the Labour Party's foremost politician, Johan Nygaardsvold
.
Despite his family's Jewish roots, Hambro was a Christian. He more or less adhered to the views of Oxford Group
, without being an actual member of this group.
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 royal family
, the government, prominent members of 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. The Germans had then 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 fledgling Norwegian underground resistance movement
via telephone.
from 1945 to 1956. He was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
from 1940 to 1963.
. His most prestigious awards were the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav in 1937 and the Medal for Outstanding Civic Service in 1952. He also got the Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal and the St. Olav's Medal. When he died in December 1964, he received a state funeral
in the honorary section of Vår Frelsers gravlund
.
He has a square in the centre of Oslo named after him, C. J. Hambros plass, in which are sited both the Oslo District Court
and the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway. Streets have been named after him in Heimdal
and Fyllingsdalen
(C. J. Hambros vei) as well as Elverum
(C. J. Hambros veg).
A statue of him was erected in 1995 at the square in front of the Parliament, Eidsvolls plass
.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
representing the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Norway
The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...
. A ten-term member of the Parliament of Norway, Hambro served as President of the Parliament for twenty of his thirty-eight years in the legislature. He was actively engaged in international affairs, including work with the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
(1939–40), delegate to the UN General Assembly (1945–1956) and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
(1940–1963).
Personal life
Carl Joachim Hambro's lineage can be traced back to RendsburgRendsburg
Rendsburg is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. As of 2006, it had a population of 28,476.-History:...
in the 1720s. The family was Jewish. The family member Calmer Joachim Hambro (1747–1806) relocated to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in the late eighteenth century, and became a businessman. One of his sons, Joseph Hambro, moved on to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and founded Hambros Bank
Hambros Bank
Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years...
with his son Carl Joachim Hambro
Carl Joachim Hambro (banker)
Baron Carl Joachim Hambro was the founder of Hambros Bank, one of the United Kingdom's largest investment banks.-Personal life:He was born in Copenhagen as a son of Joseph Hambro . The family lineage can be traced to Rendsburg, Schleswig-Holstein in the 1720s...
. Another son (and Joseph's brother) Edvard Isaach Hambro (1782–1865) moved to Bergen, Norway
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
where he became a merchant in the early nineteenth century. Edvard Isaach Hambro fathered Carl Joachim Hambro (1813–1873), who in turn fathered the school manager Edvard Isak Hambro
Edvard Isak Hambro (educator)
-Personal life:He was born in Bergen as a son of Carl Joachim Hambro and Angelique Cathrine Bull . Edvard Isak Hambro had six sisters and one older brother. His paternal grandfather was a Danish Jew who had migrated to Norway in 1810. He was a maternal grandson of Georg Jacob Bull, brother-in-law...
(1847–1909).
C. J. Hambro was born in Bergen as a son of Edvard Isak Hambro and Nicoline Christine Harbitz (1861–1926, later known as Nico Hambro). He had three sisters, among them the educator Elise Hambro. He was a distant descendant of Johan Randulf Bull
Johan Randulf Bull
Johan Randulf Bull was a Norwegian judge.He was born in Stod, as the brother of Johan Lausen Bull. He took the jurist examination in Copenhagen in 1778, and was a member of Det Norske Selskab there...
, and thereby a first cousin of Edvard Bull, Sr.
Edvard Bull, Sr.
Edvard Bull was a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. He took the doctorate in 1912 and became a professor at the University of Kristiania in 1917, and is known for writings on a broad range of subjects. In addition to his academic work, he is known for his work on Norsk...
, Johan Peter Bull
Johan Peter Bull
Johan Peter Bull was a Norwegian theatre worker. He was appointed at the National Theatre of Norway from 1909 to 1950 in various administrative positions, including secretary and stage director. He was the brother of literary historian Francis Bull, and politician Edvard Bull...
and Francis Bull
Francis Bull
Francis Bull was a Norwegian literary historian, professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years, essayist and speaker, and magazine editor.-Early and personal life:...
.
From June 1910, C. J. Hambro was married to priest's daughter Gudrun "Dudu" Grieg (1881–1943). They had the sons Edvard Hambro
Edvard Hambro
Edvard Isak Hambro was a Norwegian politician. He was the 25th President of the United Nations General Assembly and also served on the UN's International Law Commission from 1972 to 1977.- Biography :...
, Vilhelm Cato Grieg Hambro, Carl Joachim Hambro
Carl Joachim Hambro (philologist)
Carl Joachim Hambro was a Norwegian philologist, essayist, novelist and translator.He was born in Oslo as a son of Carl Joachim Hambro. He took the cand.philol. degree in 1939, was a lecturer in Norwegian at Sorbonne from 1946 to 1949, and at the same time Paris correspondent for the Norwegian...
and Johan Randulf Bull Hambro
Johan Hambro
Johan Randulf Bull Hambro was a Norwegian journalist, translator and biographer. He was the fourth son of Norwegian politician C. J. Hambro, whose biography he wrote in 1984. He lived in the United States from 1939 to 1982, where he studied and worked as a foreign-affairs journalist, press attaché...
; all born between 1911 and 1915. Through Edvard, he was also a grandfather of Christian Hambro
Christian Hambro
Johan Christian Georg Hambro is a Norwegian civil servant.He was born in the UK as the son of Edvard Hambro and his wife Elisabeth . His grandparents were C. J. Hambro and Gudrun on the paternal side and Jacques Raverat and Gwen on the maternal side...
. Three years after his wife died, in February 1946, C. J. Hambro married actress Gyda Christensen
Gyda Christensen
Gyda Marthe Kristine Christensen , was a Norwegian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Later also a Managing Director of Nationaltheatret's ballet school in Oslo.-Biography:...
(1872–1964) whom he had befriended in 1918.
Early career
Hambro attended the middle school and high school his father had founded in Bergen. He took the examen artiumExamen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...
in 1902, and enrolled in philology studies at the Royal Frederick University
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
. While studying, he took many excursions, working as translator, literary critic, part-time teacher and even participant on the research vessel Michael Sars. He was also a journalist in Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...
, from 1903 to 1907. He finally received his cand.mag.
Cand.mag.
Candidatus magisterii , Candidata magisterii , i.e. Latin Candidate of Arts, abbreviated cand.mag., is an academic degree used in Denmark, and formerly in Norway and Iceland, roughly corresponding to an American Master of Arts and officially translated as such...
degree in 1907.
He was involved in the Norwegian Students' Society, which he chaired in 1908, 1909 and in the autumn of 1911. He chaired the Conservative Students' Association
Conservative Students' Association (Oslo)
The Conservative Students' Association is a Norwegian students' association of the University of Oslo, located at Majorstuen, Slemdalsveien 7 together with the Norwegian Students' Society. It is politically conservative and is associated with the Conservative Party and the European Democrat Students...
in 1908, 1910 and 1911, and was also vice chairman of Filologisk Forening in 1904. From 1910 to 1913 he was the secretary of the Norse Federation
Norse Federation
The Norse Federation is a Norwegian non-profit organization that was founded it 1907. The organization states that its purpose is to "unit[e] friends of Norway throughout the world". , the organization has approximately 3500 members. It publishes a periodical which is named The Norseman....
, and edited its periodical from 1911 to 1916. He was also involved in association football, and chaired the club Akademisk FK and was vice chairman (in 1904) of the fledgling Football Association of Norway
Football Association of Norway
The Football Association of Norway is the governing body of football in Norway. Current FIFA World Champions It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the Norwegian Premier League.The team are enjoying their best ever spell thanks to World Player of the...
.
After graduating from the university, he was a teacher at Kristiania Commerce School
Oslo Commerce School
Oslo Commerce School is a public high school in Oslo, Norway, specialized to teach financial and business management....
(1907) and Vestheim School (1908–1912). In 1913 he became chief editor of Morgenbladet, a post he held until 1919. He then focused on pursuing a political career, having been elected in the autumn of 1918. He did return to the press as editor of the magazine Ukens Revy
Ukens Revy
Ukens Revy was a Norwegian periodical, published in Oslo.It was founded in September 1914 as a conservative-leaning literary and political periodical. The first editor was Hjalmar Christensen, who co-edited with Ronald Fangen and Victor Mogens. From issue #5/1914 Mogens took over the editor chair....
from 1921 to 1929.
Ukens Revy had been distinctively pro-German and anti-British during the First World War. During the war, Hambro got entangled in British affairs. In January 1917, the United Kingdom had ceased its coal exports to Norway. During the negotiations between Knudsen's Cabinet's representatives and the British legation in Kristiania, Hambro wrote an editorial in Morgenbladet which suggested expulsion of the British diplomats if Norwegian needs were not met. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
met with the Norwegian ambassador in the UK, and demanded that Knudsen's Cabinet either deplore Morgenbladet
Hambro also marked himself as a critic of socialism. In 1918, in the wake of the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution can refer to:* Russian Revolution , a series of strikes and uprisings against Nicholas II, resulting in the creation of State Duma.* Russian Revolution...
, Hambro suggested that a part of the political opposition, namely the revolutionary socialist press, be met with harsher regulations. He wrote in Morgenbladet: "Perhaps our authorities should be more attentive towards the socially subversive agitation long practiced by our socialist leaders in writing and speech".
He chaired the Conservative Press Association from 1913 to 1920, Ukens Revy from 1919 to 1929, the Norwegian News Agency
Norwegian News Agency
The Norwegian News Agency is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves many of the largest Norwegian media outlets. It also cooperates closely with the photo agency Scanpix, in which it has a 50% ownership share.NTB was founded in 1867...
from 1920 to 1946 (vice chairman 1918 to 1920), and the Norse Federation from 1923 to 1946 (board member 1913 to 1915, vice chairman 1915 to 1923). He was the vice chairman of Det Nye Teater
Det Nye Teater
Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo in 1929, and ended as an independent theatre in 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. The theatre's original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama.-History:...
from 1928 to 1932, a board member of Morgenbladet from 1921 to 1933 as well as of the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture
Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture
The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture is a humanities research institute based in Oslo, Norway.It was established in 1922 by Fredrik Stang. An independent institute, its task is to sponsor research mainly in the fields of comparative linguistics, folklore, religion, ethnology,...
. He was a supervisory council member of Nationaltheatret
Nationaltheatret
The National Theatre in Oslo is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts.The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was founded in 1829...
.
Political career
Hambro had settled in KristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(Oslo), and in 1908 he became a board member of the Conservative Party there. He was selected for Kristiania's school board, being a member from 1913 to 1921 and chairman from 1921 to 1923.
In the Norwegian parliamentary election, 1918
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1918
-Results: Liberal Left Party is part of coalition with Conservative Party-References:**...
he stood on the ballot in Uranienborg
Uranienborg, Norway
Uranienborg is a neighborhood in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway.-History:Originally a rural area in the former municipality Aker, it was incorporated into Christiania city in 1859. The property used to have a wonderful view, and it was therefore named after the famous observatory...
and was elected to the Parliament of Norway in that single-member constituency. After the change to plural-member constituencies he was re-elected from the constituency Kristiania in 1921
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1921
-Results:-References:*...
, and, after it changed its name to Oslo, in 1924
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1924
-Results:-References:*...
, 1927
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1927
-Results:-References:*...
, 1930
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1930
-Results:*...
, 1933
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1933
-Results:- References :...
, 1936
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1936
The parliamentary election of 1936 was the last one held in Norway before World War II and the German invasion of Norway.-Results:*...
, 1945
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1945
These elections were held on 8 October 1945. The Labour Party won an absolute majority in the Storting which they would keep until 1961.-Results:...
, 1949
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1949
The general election of 1949 was held to elect 150 MPs to the Storting. The Norwegian Labour Party increased its share of the vote an won a large majority of seats in the chamber....
and 1953
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1953
-Results:...
. He was a member of Parliament from 1919 to 1957; amounting to ten consecutive terms in total (the 1940 election was called off because of World War II).
C. J. Hambro served as President of the Parliament from 30 June 1926 to 10 January 1934 and from 21 March 1935 to 3 December 1945, and President of the Assembly of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
delegates in 1939–40 and 1946. He had originally voted against Norway's accession to the League of Nations, as one of only three representatives from his party to do so, citing that the Versailles Treaty did not create decent grounds for such an international organization. He chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs is a defunct committee of the Norwegian Parliament responsible for matters related to foreign policy, development assistance, international agreements, Svalbard and the Norwegian polar regions.- Leaders :...
from 1925 to 1945, and was then a member from 1945 to 1957. From 1945 to 1957 he was also a member of the Enlarged Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs
Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence
The Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence is a special committee of the Parliament of Norway. It holds non-disclosed discussions with the government regarding important issues of foreign affairs, trade policy and security issues. Other issues are discussed in the Standing Committee on...
. In the Election Committee
Election Committee (Parliament of Norway)
The Election Committee ) is a special committee of the Parliament of Norway. The 37 members are responsible for allocating the members of parliament in the various standing and special committees and to allocate the members of the presidium. The committee is also used to conduct elections....
of the Parliament, he was the chairman from 1928 to 1945 and deputy chairman from 1945 to 1957.
C. J. Hambro served as acting party chairman in 1926, and party chairman from 1928 to 1934 and 1945 to 1954. He was also a central board member from 1934 to 1964. He was never a member of any government, despite that his party formed several cabinet during his parliamentary tenure. He instead chose to work as chairman of his party as well as its parliamentary group; the two posts had actually become open to him when Ivar Lykke
Ivar Lykke
Ivar Lykke was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 1926 to 1928.-References:...
chose to form his cabinet in 1926.
Views
Hambro was known as a cosmopoliteCosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
. He did not follow the group Fedrelandslaget
Fedrelandslaget
The Fatherland League was a political organisation in Norway, which was founded on 25 January 1925. By the initiative of young industrialist Joakim Lehmkuhl, the organisation was co-founded with polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen and former Prime Minister Christian Michelsen...
, which was vying for conservative support, in their nationalism. In the so-called "Greenland Question", he arbitrated with Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1923–1924 when Denmark claimed sovereignty over Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, and had meant that Denmark acted unjustified. However, when forces in and outside of the then-Agrarian
Centre Party (Norway)
The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...
government annexed "Erik the Red's Land
Erik the Red's Land
Erik the Red's Land was the name given by Norwegians to an area on the coast of eastern Greenland occupied by Norway in the early 1930s. It was named after Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlements in Greenland in the 10th century...
" in 1931, Hambro was strictly against it. The Agrarian Party revenged itself on Hambro by voting him down as President of the Parliament in 1934, but Hambro won support from the adversaries in the Labour Party to regain the post. He nurtured a personal friendship with figures such as the Labour Party's foremost politician, Johan Nygaardsvold
Johan Nygaardsvold
Johan Nygaardsvold was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 1935 to 1945 , as head of the cabinet Nygaardsvold.-Political career:...
.
Despite his family's Jewish roots, Hambro was a Christian. He more or less adhered to the views of Oxford Group
Oxford Group
The Oxford Group was a Christian movement that had a following in Europe, China, Africa, Australia, Scandinavia and America in the 1920s and 30s. It was initiated by an American Lutheran pastor, Frank Buchman, who was of Swiss descent...
, without being an actual member of this group.
Role in World War II
Hambro played a crucial role at the time of the German invasion of NorwayOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
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
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1938, Hambro was prepared, and with only six hours advance notice, he managed to organize the escape of king Haakon VII
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
and his royal family
Norwegian Royal Family
The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...
, the government, prominent members of Parliament and the gold reserves of the
Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury
The National Treasury of Norway consisted of in 1940 value worth of gold weighing around 50 tons. The entire gold deposit was stored at Norges Bank's main vault at their headquarters in Oslo. During the increasing tension of the 1930s, plans were made to make the deposit more mobile...
Bank of Norway. They all left on a train commissioned by Hambro just 30 minutes before the Germans arrived in Oslo. The Germans had then been delayed by the sinking
Battle of Drøbak sound
The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in the northernmost part of the Oslofjord on 9 April 1940, on the first day of the German invasion of Norway...
of the German cruiser Blücher
German cruiser Blücher
Blücher was the second of five heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in...
.
In the days after the invasion, Hambro worked actively from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's capital Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to correct the image the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist Leland Stowe
Leland Stowe
Leland Stowe was a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist noted for being one of the first to recognize the expansionist character of the German Nazi regime.- Biography :...
had portrayed of the situation in Norway. While in Sweden, Hambro also was instrumental in organizing the fledgling Norwegian underground resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
via telephone.
Post-war life
After the Second World War, he was a delegate to the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
from 1945 to 1956. He was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
from 1940 to 1963.
Legacy
Hambro was a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and LiteratureNorwegian Academy for Language and Literature
The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the Dano-Norwegian language. Its primary role is regulating the written standard known as Riksmål ....
. His most prestigious awards were the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav in 1937 and the Medal for Outstanding Civic Service in 1952. He also got the Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal and the St. Olav's Medal. When he died in December 1964, he received a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
in the honorary section of Vår Frelsers gravlund
Vår Frelsers gravlund
Vår Frelsers gravlund is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemic of the Napoleonic Wars. Its grounds were extended in 1911. The cemetery has been full since 1952...
.
He has a square in the centre of Oslo named after him, C. J. Hambros plass, in which are sited both the Oslo District Court
Oslo District Court
Oslo District Court is the district court serving Oslo, Norway. Cases may be appealed to Borgarting Court of Appeal. As the largest district court in Norway, it handles about 20% of all cases in the country...
and the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway. Streets have been named after him in Heimdal
Heimdal
Heimdal is the southernmost borough in Trondheim, Norway named after the god Heimdall in Norse mythology. The area has been continuously inhabited since at least the Iron Age, and is rich in archaeological sites....
and Fyllingsdalen
Fyllingsdalen
Fyllingsdalen is a borough of the city of Bergen, Norway, located south-west of the city centre in the valley to the west of Løvstakken. The early name of the valley, Fynö dalen, was the origin of the name of the farm which gave Fyllingsdalen its name, Fyllingen...
(C. J. Hambros vei) as well as Elverum
Elverum
is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum...
(C. J. Hambros veg).
A statue of him was erected in 1995 at the square in front of the Parliament, Eidsvolls plass
Eidsvolls plass
Eidsvolls plass is a square and park in Oslo, Norway, located west of the Parliament of Norway Building, south of Karl Johans gate and east of Studenterlunden and the National Theatre...
.
Selected works
- I saw it happen in Norway (1941)
- How to win the peace (1942)
- Crossroads of conflict;: European peoples and problems (1943)
- Newspaper lords in British politics (1958)