Georg Apenes

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Georg Apenes.
Georg Apenes.

Georg Apenes (born 5 April 1940 in Fredrikstad) is a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Conservative Party.[1]

[edit] Career

Having finished secondary education, he briefly worked as a substitute school teacher in his hometown in 1960 before entering Franklin and Marshall College as a part of the Fulbright Program. He studied there for a year before being enrolled in the Norwegian officers' training school. He finished his studies in 1969, when he graduated with the cand.jur. degree from the University of Oslo. While studying in Oslo he had been chairman of the student society Det Norske Studentersamfund during the student-led Protests of 1968.

He then went to Vest-Telemark to work as a deputy judge. While stationed there, he chaired the local Conservative Party chapter in Kviteseid from 1970 to 1971. He was given a lawyer's license in 1971, but instead became a journalist for his hometown newspaper Fredriksstad Blad. After one year he was promoted to subeditor. He stayed in this job until 1977.

In 1977 he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Østfold constituency. He was later re-elected in 1981 and 1985 to serve two more terms. Unlike many national politicians, Apenes never held elected positions in local politics.

He was not re-elected to a fourth parliamentary term in 1989; instead he was appointed the new director of the Norwegian Data Inspectorate when Helge Seip reached the age limit of 70 years and stepped down. As director of the Data Inspectorate, Apenes has made a mark in the political debate as a defender of privacy. He has opposed the European Union Directive 2006/24/EC.[2] When commenting on Internet privacy, Apenes deplored the indifference with which people disseminate personally identifiable information. He added that the dystopies described by Aldous Huxley "are probably not that far away".[3]

Georg Apenes has authored several books, with topics spanning from monographies on political themes and analysis of political parties to festchrifts and amateur history. In addition, he has written columns in the newspapers Fredriksstad Blad, Stavanger Aftenblad, Dagens Næringsliv and A-Magasinet.

[edit] Personal life

He was the son of district stipendiary magistrate (sorenskriver) Christian B. Apenes and housewife Inger-Johanne Apenes, née Framholdt Johansen. Inger-Johanne Apenes was murdered in 1978. The case was unsolved, until 2007 when someone confessed the murder. At that point, however, the case was juridicially obsolete.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Unless otherwise noted, the entire article is based on the Georg Apenes biography at Stortinget.no (Norwegian)
  2. ^ Blaker, Magnus. "I full krig med departementet", Nettavisen, 7 May 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. (Norwegian) 
  3. ^ Bilden, Kaare M.. "Slapper av med storebror", Ny Tid, 21 April 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. (Norwegian) 
  4. ^ Odinsen, Hege Lyngved; Jarle Brenna and Anne Vinding. "Drapssak fra 1978 er oppklart", Verdens Gang, 3 April 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. (Norwegian) 
Preceded by
Helge Seip		 Director of the Data Inspectorate
1989 – present		 Incumbent