John Christian Munthe Sanness (24 May 1913 – 6 November 1984) was a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. He is known as the director of the

Norwegian Institute of International Affairs The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (; NUPI) is a Norwegian research institution based in Oslo, Norway. It was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1959. History The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) was establ ...

from 1960 to 1983, professor at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

from 1966 to 1983 and chair of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee () selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. ...

from 1979 to 1981.

Early career

He was born in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

as a son of Stian Sanness (1880–1966) and Hanne Theodora Munthe (1882–1954). The family moved to

Kristiania 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, an ...

seven years later, and Sanness attended Kristiania Cathedral School. He joined the revolutionary group ''

Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norway, Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party until 1925. After World War II, many of its former members were ...

'' during this period, and was expelled from his school for protests against the 25-year anniversary of the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

in 1930. He later declined an offer to be reentered, and finished his secondary education as a private candidate. In 1940 he chaired the

Norwegian Students' Society Norwegian Students' Society () is Norway's oldest student society. The Norwegian Students' Society was established during 1813 in Oslo, Norway. Two years after the Royal Frederick University (today named the University of Oslo) was founded, 18 of ...

. In April 1940, Norway was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany. Sanness learned from a Norwegian official in the government that he was on a list of people who would be arrested by the Gestapo, so he escaped to neutral Sweden. He travelled to London in 1941. Here he worked as a secretary for Arne Ording. Both Sanness and Ording had been ''Mot Dag'' members, but were now more mainstream Labour Party members. In addition to working for Ording, Sanness was involved in

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcasts to occupied Norway, and he was a commentator in the illegal press.

Post-war career

He worked as the foreign affairs editor in the newspaper ''

Arbeiderbladet is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. Eirik Hoff Lys ...

'' from 1946 to 1950. He also taught at the

, and took his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1959 with the thesis ''Patrioter, intelligens og skandinaver. Norske reaksjoner på skandinavismen før 1848'', a work on

Scandinavism Scandinavism (; ; ), also called Scandinavianism or pan-Scandinavianism,"Pan-Scandinavi ...

. He was the director of the

(NUPI) from 1960 to 1983, and a professor of history at the

from 1966 to 1983. Notable releases include ''Verden blir én 1850–1914'', volume five of ''Aschehougs verdenshistorie'' released in 1955. He also published studies on the Soviet Union (''Sovjetsamveldet under Khrustsjov'', Bergen 1960; ''Some Problems in the Study of Soviet Foreign Policy'', 1978), Norwegian foreign policy (''Norsk alliansefri politikk?'', 1978) and

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

(''Norske historikere og den kalde krigen'', 1984). He edited the encyclopedia '' Tidens Leksikon'', released in 1975–1976, together with

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1945 to 1951, 1955 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965. With a total of 16 years in office, he is the longest serving Pri ...

and

Odd Højdahl Odd Højdahl (5 January 1921 – 23 February 1994) was a Norway, Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. He was born in Oslo. In 1971–1972 he was the Minister of Social Affairs (Norway), Mi ...

. He also edited the periodical '' Samtiden'' from 1964 to 1967. He sat on the

from 1970 to 1981 and was chair from 1979 to 1981. Some of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

s awarded during his time in the committee were controversial, especially the

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

award to

Lê Đức Thọ Lê Đức Thọ (; 14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), born Phan Đình Khải in Nam Dinh Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary general, diplomat, and politician. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly wit ...

and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, which caused two committee members to resign. Sanness was fluent many foreign languages, including German, Russian, French and Spanish. He also spoke some Finnish. Since 1939 he was married to Dagny, née Goa. His wife outlived him as he died in November 1984 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanness, John 1913 births 1984 deaths Writers from Oslo Mot Dag Labour Party (Norway) politicians 20th-century Norwegian historians Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian magazine editors Chairpersons of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Norwegian expatriates in West Germany Norwegian expatriates in England People educated at Oslo Cathedral School 20th-century Norwegian journalists