Gunnar Jahn

Gunnar Jahn (10 January 1883 – 31 January 1971) was a Norwegian jurist, economist, statistician, politician for the Liberal Party and resistance member. He held several important positions, such as Norwegian Minister of Finance and Customs from 1934 to 1935 and in 1945, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 1941 to 1966 and Governor of the Central Bank of Norway from 1946 to 1954.

Life and work He was born in Trondheim, the son of director Christian Fredy Michael Jahn (1837–1914) and Elisabeth Wilhelmine Wexelsen (1853–1930). He was a grandson of Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen, a grandnephew of Marie Wexelsen and a first cousin of Per Kvist. He finished his secondary education at Trondheim Cathedral School in 1902 graduated from the Royal Frederick University with the cand.jur. degree in 1907. He worked as a deputy judge in Lofoten before enrolling at the university again; he graduated in economics in 1909. He was hired in Statistics Norway in 1910. In April 1911 he married Martha Larsen Jahn.

From 1913 he was a teacher at Kristiania Commerce School and the university, jobs he left in 1918 and 1920 respectively. From 1917 to 1919 he worked in Rasjoneringsdirektoratet, and from 1919 to 1920 he was the director there. In 1920 he became director of Statistics Norway. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 1927. From November 1934 to March 1935 he was the Minister of Finance and Customs in Mowinckel's Third Cabinet. He became a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 1937,

In 1940 he was a member of the Administrative Council, which tried to maintain Norwegian political governance despite the German invasion and occupation of Norway. He marked himself as a strong proponent of resistance to Germany, and was a member of the central leadership of the resistance: "Kretsen" and Hjemmefrontens Ledelse.

After the German surrender, he saw himself as a candidate to become Prime Minister of Norway, but Hjemmefrontens Ledelse chose Paal Berg as their candidate.