Carl Olof (Ole, C.O.) Frietsch (24 March 1901 – 19 August 1973) was the Finnish consul general and the MP from the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant in ...

. Frietsch was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czechoslovakia. His parents were Karl Gustaf Frietsch, a qualified engineer, and Eva Lönnblad. He graduated in 1920 and then studied at the

Kiel University Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public University, public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ...

, where he graduated as a doctoral student in 1926. Frietsch served as an official of the Nordic Union Bank in Helsinki in 1927–1937 and as a procurator of the bank from 1935 to 1937. He was the advisor for co-operative Varuboden from 1937 to 1940 and the head of the sales office of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

in 1941–1945. Frietsch was also served as the secretary of the ''Kontorsvärlden'' newspaper in 1933–1935 and as editor-in-chief from 1935 to 1937 and editor-in-chief of ''Vi och vårt'' 1937–1945. After the war, Frietsch was a newsreader at the Embassy of Finland in Stockholm from 1946 to 1948, as Secretary of State in Stockholm from 1948 to 1950, and from 1953 to 1956, as Secretary of State in

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 ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

from 1948 to 1950, and as Secretary of State in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 1950–1953. Finland's permanent representative at the Vienna headquarters of the United Nations in and chargé d'affaires in Vienna 1957–1961 and last consul general in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

1961–1965. Frietsch was a member of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from the

between 1936 and 1945 representing the constituency of Uusimaa. Frietsch moved to a branch office in Stockholm in December 1945 and replaced by Henrik Kullberg in the Swedish People's Party. Frietsch chaired the Parliamentary Banking Committee, belonged to the

Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock compa ...

's supervisory board and the board of directors of the

Social Insurance Institution The Social Insurance Institution () is a Polish state organization responsible for social insurance located ul. Szamocka 3, 5 01-748 Warsaw matters which has been operating since 1934. ZUS is supervised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy ...

. He was also chairman of the Finnish-American Association, the Finnish branch of the Swedish branch office and the Swedish Banking Association of Finland. Frietsch was a member of the

peace opposition Peace opposition (, ) was a Finnish cross-party movement pushing for Finland to step out of the Continuation War (1941 to 1944). From 1943 to 1944, the "Peace opposition" united bourgeois politicians such as Paasikivi, Kekkonen and Sakari Tuomioja ...

during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

. During the war, he was also a member of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. In 1945, he published a piece of work devoted to war-related politics ''Finlands ödesår 1939–1943'' Frietsch was married from 1927 to 1964 to Anna Liesbeth Hollen. In 1965 he married Leni Hanna Magda Maria Delwall. He died, aged 72, in Malles, Val Venosta,

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frietsch, C. O. 1901 births 1973 deaths Politicians from Prague Swedish People's Party of Finland politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1936–1939) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1939–1945) Permanent representatives of Finland to the United Nations Finnish bankers Finnish expatriates in Italy