Albert Nordengen

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Albert Nordengen (born May 2, 1923 in Våler, Østfold in Norway, died December 18, 2004 in Oslo) was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party who became perhaps the most prominent, and best loved mayor in the history of the Norwegian capital.

He started his political career as a member of Oslo's city council in 1951. Through the years he also worked as a bank manager for Spareskillingsbanken (1964) and became group leader for the Conservative Party in the city council in 1968. In 1976 he became mayor, a position he held for an impressive fourteen years until 1990. Nordengen quickly became a much loved figure with the citizens of Oslo and despite being born in rural Østfold, he was a true Oslo patriot (even recording a version of the Norwegian song "Akerselva," a tribute to the popular river that runs through the city). In October 2002 he received the King's Order of Merit in Gold for his services to Norwegian politics.

On December 9, 2004, after speaking at a gathering for veteran athletes, he collapsed in a parking lot from heart failure. He never regained consciousness before passing away nine days later at Diakonhjemmet hospital.