Petter Johan Thomassen (17 April 1941 – 8 October 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party.

Early years

He was born in

Salangen Municipality Salangen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages ...

as a son of farmers Karl Thomassen (1905–1978) and Johanna, née Grimstad (1914–1996). He finished his secondary education in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

in 1960, and took the siv.øk. degree in

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 ...

in 1963. He was the manager of Nordlandsdata in Bodø from 1965 to 1976.

Career

He was a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Bodø Municipality Bodø (; , ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Bodø (town ...

from 1967 to 1975. He was also a member of

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

. From 1976 to 1977 he was chairman (''fylkesrådsleder'') of

's county cabinet. In his party he was a central board member of the

Norwegian Young Conservatives Norwegian Young Conservatives (Norwegian: Unge Høyres Landsforbund, UHL, normally referred to as Unge Høyre) is the Norwegian youth party of the Conservative Party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism. The party has 3,078 members as of 2 ...

from 1969 to 1971, and central board member of the Conservative Party from 1976 to 1990. From 1988 to 1990 he was the second deputy leader of his party. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, and was re-elected on four occasions; in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He chaired one Standing Committee during his time, the

Standing Committee on Finance The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) is a department related standing committee (DRSC) constituted by the Parliament of India comprising selected members of parliament for the purpose of legislative oversight on the policies an ...

from 1983 to 1985. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1969–1973. From 1985 to 1986, while

Willoch's Second Cabinet Willoch's Second Cabinet was a majority, centre-right government consisting of the Conservative, Centre, Christian Democratic parties. It succeeded the Conservative First cabinet Willoch in mid-term to secure a majority, right-winged government, ...

held office, Thomassen served as the Minister of Industry. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by

Harry Danielsen Harry Danielsen (14 September 1936 – 12 May 2011) was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Conservative Party, later independent. He was born Rødøy Municipality as a son of a fisherman. After commerce school and military educatio ...

. From 1989 to 1990 Thomassen served as Minister of Trade in

Syse's Cabinet Syse's Cabinet was a minority centre-right Conservative, Centre, Christian Democrat Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Second cabinet Brundtland after the 1989 election, and sat between 16 October 1989 and 3 November 1990. It was r ...

. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by Steinar Høgaas. He chaired Nordland District College (1976 to 1978), Dataringen (1971 to 1973, board member 1968 to 1976), Nordlandsforskning (1980 to 1985, 1986 to 1988), Polarsirkelsenteret (1988 to 1990), Norsk Luftfartssenter (1994 to 1998), Polar Park (1994 to 2001),

Bodø Energi Bodø Energi is a power company The Power Company is a team of superheroes-for-hire in the DC Comics universe. The team, created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett, first appeared in '' JLA'' #61 (February 2002). They subsequently starred in an ...

(1996 to 2003),

Nordland Teater Nordland Teater is a Norwegian theatre based in Mo i Rana. It was established in 1977 by Norwegian Parliament as the regional theatre for Nordland. Birgitte Strid has been theatre director since 2013. Theatre directors *1979–1986 Collective ...

(1999 to 2003) and

Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK), or simply Store Norske, is a Norwegian coal mining company based on the Svalbard archipelago. It was formed in 1916, after a Norwegian purchase of the American Arctic Coal Company (ACC). The compan ...

(2003). He was a board member of ''Norske datasentralers landsforbund'' (1972 to 1974) and the Norwegian Electricity Industry Association (1998 to 2003). He authored numerous books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomassen, Petter Johan 1941 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Bodø Businesspeople in computing Nordland politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Norwegian non-fiction writers 20th-century Norwegian non-fiction writers People from Salangen Ministers of trade and shipping of Norway Members of the Storting 1993–1997 Members of the Storting 1989–1993 Members of the Storting 1985–1989 Members of the Storting 1981–1985 Members of the Storting 1977–1981