Svenn Thorkild Stray (11 February 1922 – 20 May 2012) was a Norwegian politician and a member of the

Conservative Party of Norway The Conservative Party or The Right (, , , H; ) is a liberal-conservative List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part of the ...

. He served as a member of parliament from 1958 to 1985, as president of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

in 1968, and as foreign minister of Norway from 1970 to 1971, and 1981 to 1986.

Background

He was born in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

. Stray's parents were Gudmund Stray (1885–1970), a dentist, and Anne Johanne Marie Frøstrup (1893–1975). Svenn Stray graduated from 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 ...

with a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

in 1946. After having served as a clerk in

Moss, Norway Moss is a coastal List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a ...

, he opened his own practice in Moss in 1950.

Political career

Stray was first elected to local office in Moss in 1955, and he remained active in local politics until 1979. He was elected to Stortinget in 1958. He served continuously in the parliament until 1985, for a total of 27 years, 264 days. Stray was

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

twice, from 1970 to 1971, and 1981 to 1986. He died on 20 May 2012 at the age of 90.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stray, Svenn Ministers of foreign affairs of Norway Government ministers of Norway Norwegian diplomats Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Vice presidents of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian politicians Politicians from Arendal 1922 births 2012 deaths