Per Bang (29 November 1922 – 24 April 2010) was a Norwegian journalist. He worked in ''

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' ( Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed ...

'' from 1946 to 2006, and became known for his column ''På nattbordet''.

Career

He was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, and was a bookseller's apprentice when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

broke out. In 1943 he was taken as a "hostage" by the Nazi German occupants of Norway, imprisoned at Bredtveit concentration camp from 27 February to 5 April and then at

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location= Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates=List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

to 20 December 1943. After the war he considered finishing secondary education, but instead worked in the newspaper '' Jarlsberg'' from 1945 to 1947. In 1946 he was hired in ''Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende'', later named ''

'', where he worked until 2006, from 1956 to 1974 as

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

correspondent. He was formally a freelancer since 1989, and when retiring he was one of Norway's oldest active journalists. He became known for his column ''På nattbordet'', though unsigned, where he enquired businesspeople and others on what books they were reading. On occasions, the result would be subtly embarrassing for the interview object. He also worked with the catalogue for the art exhibition ''Norske Bilder''. He issued several books, both fiction and non-fiction. His debut was the short story collection ''Dommedag for deg'' (1952), and he also released the novel ''Stedfortredere'' (1981). His non-fiction books were mostly from his period as London correspondent, including ''Den Norske Klub i London 75 år'' (1962), ''Er de gale?'' (1967) and ''Londonguide'' (with Anne-Marie Bang, 1970). He was a member of the

Norwegian Authors' Union The Norwegian Authors' Union ( no, Den norske Forfatterforening, DnF) is an association of Norwegian authors. It was established in 1893 to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors' professional and economic interests. DnF also ...

for some years, but backed out because he was more comfortable with the title "journalist". He received the Golden Pen award from the Riksmål Society in 1990. Bang was active in Amnesty International and Nei til atomvåpen

He was a Roman Catholic, and was married twice. He died in April 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang, Per 1922 births 2010 deaths Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian journalists Norwegian newspaper reporters and correspondents Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian Roman Catholics Writers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian anti–nuclear weapons activists