Early life and career

He was born in Høvik

Høvik

Høvik is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Akershus, Norway. Mainly a residential area, its population is 4,311.Høvik has a church, a small shopping area and a railway station served by Drammensbanen. Flytoget does not stop at Høvik. Nearby is the Henie-Onstad Art Centre...

 as the son of dean

Dean (religion)

A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...

 Oskar Albert Munck (1868–1956) og Mathilde Munthe-Kaas (1871–1906). He was also a great-grandson of Johan Storm Munch

Johan Storm Munch

Johan Storm Munch was a Norwegian poet, playwright, magazine editor and priest. He published the poetry collection Fjeldblomster in 1813, edited the magazine Saga from 1816 to 1820, and published the play Præsten i Hallingdal in 1825. He served as Lutheran bishop of Christiansand from...

. He grew up in Øygarden

Øygarden

Øygarden is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midhordland. The administrative centre is Rong.Øygarden was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of Hjelme and parts of Herdla....

, took his examen artium

Examen 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...

 at Frogner School in 1916 and a degree in electrical engineering

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

 at the Norwegian Institute of Technology

Norwegian Institute of Technology

The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...

 in 1921. In October 1925 he married Elisa Margrethe "Lisken" Anthonisen.

In 1924 he founded his own company, which came to be known as Sverre Munck Elektro-Mekanisk Industri. After a time of struggle, the company profited from the upward economic cycles of the late 1930s and the post-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 period. The main products were crane

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

s and tackles

Block and tackle

A block and tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.The pulleys are assembled together to form blocks so that one is fixed and one moves with the load...

, but also trolleybus

Trolleybus

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

es and excavator

Excavator

Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...

s. The company had production facilities in Bergen

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 , ....

, Fusa

Fusa

Fusa is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Fusa was separated from Os in 1856. Hålandsdal and Strandvik were separated from Fusa on 1 January 1903, but they were both again merged with Fusa on 1 January 1964....

, Bøvågen

Bøvågen

Bøvågen is a small village in Radøy municipality, Norway.The village has had various industry, among others a plant belonging to the industrial company Sverre Munck Elektro-Mekanisk Industri.It was formerly a part of Hordabø municipality.-References:...

, Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 and Langesund

Langesund

is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bamble, Norway.The town of Langesund was established as a municipality January 1, 1838...

, and also expanded abroad.

Later career

In 1946 Munck passed down the management of the company to his sons. He continued as chairman of the board. He was a local chairman and national board member of the Norwegian Engineer Association

Tekna (Norway)

Tekna is a union for graduate technical and scientific professionals in Norway.It was established in 1874 under the name Den Norske Ingeniør- og Arkitektforening . In 1912 it was reorganized as Den Norske Ingeniørforening...

. In 1967 he bought the newspaper Morgenposten

Morgenposten

Morgenposten is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1861 to 1971. It was the largest newspaper in Norway from the 1870s until the early 1900s, when its name was Christiania Nyheds- og Avertissements-Blad, also nicknamed Sværta....

, which until then had been owned by the semi-secret libertarian organization Libertas. During Libertas ownership, the former editor-in-chief Asbjørn Engen

Asbjørn Engen

Asbjørn Engen was a Norwegian newspaper editor and organizational leader.In 1948 he was hired as secretary general in Landsforeningen mot kreft. It was newly founded at the time, and is since a 1998 merger known as the Norwegian Cancer Association. In 1950 Engen moved on to become a journalist in...

 had reportedly "politicized" the formerly "apolitical" newspaper. Munck's own political views has been descibred as idiosyncratic. He was a supporter of politician Bertrand Dybwad Brochmann during the 1930s. He was an opponent of national socialism, but also socialism and trade unionism. He was a strong proponent of indivudual "spiritual" development, and of a "quality democracy" instead of a "mass democracy". Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles...

notes that "often, he was not understood" as a public debater. Similarly, his takeover of Libertas was not regarded well by everyone. The editor-in-chief who replaced Engen shortly before Munck's takeover, Christian leader Per Voksø

Per Voksø

Per Voksø is a Norwegian newspaper editor and Christian leader.He was born in Bergen as the son of Julius Peder Voksø and Gudrun Larssen . He took commerce school in 1941 and examen artium in 1944. In 1945 he started as a journalist in Bergen's Christian newspaper, Dagen...

, resigned with immediate effect in March 1967. Much of the staff followed. After some time with Gunnar Kristiansen as acting editor-in-chief, Munck took over as editor, and sat until 1969. He was succeeded by Leif Husebye

Leif Husebye

Leif Husebye was a Norwegian sailor, sports journalist and newspaper editor.In his younger days he was an active sport sailor. He competed in the snipe class, and a bronze medal in the European Championships and a sixth place in the World Championships were his foremost results...

, sports editor who had remained with the newspaper during the 1967 tumults. Munck continued as newspaper owner, but died in January 1970 in Oslo. Morgenposten suffered from a downward trend, and ultimately went defunct in 1971.