Per Ditlev-Simonsen

Per Ditlev-Simonsen (born 12 June 1932) is a Norwegian politician. He was the mayor of Oslo, representing the Conservative Party, from 1995 to 2007. He stepped down on 23 August 2007 following the Swiss bank-account scandal.

Per Ditlev-Simonsen
64th Mayor of Oslo
In office
25 October 1995 – 29 August 2007
DeputySvenn Kristiansen
Governing MayorRune Gerhardsen
Fritz Huitfeldt
Erling Lae
Preceded byAnn-Marit Sæbønes
Succeeded bySvenn Kristiansen
Minister of Defence
In office
16 October 1989 – 3 November 1990
Prime MinisterJan P. Syse
Preceded byJohan Jørgen Holst
Succeeded byJohan Jørgen Holst
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office
1 October 1981 – 30 September 1985
ConstituencyOslo
Personal details
Born (1932-06-12) 12 June 1932
Oslo, Norway
Political partyConservative
RelationsOlaf Ditlev-Simonsen Sr (grandfather)
Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Jr (uncle)
John Ditlev-Simonsen (uncle)
ChildrenCecilie Ditlev-Simonsen
Residence(s)Oslo, Norway
Alma materStanford University
OccupationShipping magnate

Ditlev-Simonsen was an officer of the Norwegian Royal Guards, and he later attended Stanford University getting a Master of Arts degree. After college, Ditlev-Simonsen became a partner in his father's shipping company Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co (SDS) in 1955. He was a partner in the company until 1995.

Ditlev-Simonsen was a Member of Parliament from 1981 to 1985, serving in the Standing Committee of Finance. From 1989 to 1990 Ditlev-Simonsen was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Jan P. Syse.

Personal life

Ditlev-Simonsen was born in Oslo to ship owner Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen and Lily Kaurin. He was a grandson of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Sr, and nephew of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. He was married to Benedicte Werring (d. 1990) from 1960, and to Turi Klaveness from 1992.[1]

Swiss bank account tax probe
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In August 2007, the presence of a hitherto unknown Swiss bank account was revealed. The revelation came after an acrimonious divorce involving his daughter, Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, the communications director of Norsk Hydro.[2] The account, which contained NOK 1.5 million had been inherited by Ditlev-Simonsen after his wife died in 1990, and he eventually admitted to not having paid the Norwegian wealth tax on it.[3]

The revelation caused several opposition politicians to call for Ditlev-Simonsen's resignation. Erna Solberg, the head of the Conservative Party, asked that Ditlev-Simonsen refrain from active campaigning for his party ahead of the local elections scheduled for 10 September. Even if he had not resigned, the 75-year-old Ditlev-Simonsen was set to retire after the election.[4] The incident was believed to be a cause of the Conservative's 4 percent drop in opinion polls, three weeks ahead of the election.[5]

References
  1. Kortsen, Bjarne. "Per Ditlev-Simonsen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  2. Aftenposten (August 17, 2007). "Mayor caught in tax probe".
  3. Aftenposten (August 20, 2007). "Mayor sorry but won't resign".
  4. Aftenposten (August 20, 2007). "Oslo's mayor faces resignation demands".
  5. Aftenposten (August 22, 2007). "Voters abandon Conservatives".
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