Bom July 16, 1896, in Grorud, near Oslo; died Dec. 30, 1968, in Geilo. Norwegian politician and statesman. One of the right-wing leaders of the Norwegian Labor Party.
From 1926 to 1946, Lie was a member of the directorate of the Norwegian Labor Party. He served as minister of justice (1935–39) and minister of commerce and shipping (1939–40). After Norway’s occupation by fascist Germany during World War II (1939–45), he lived in exile in London, where in December 1940 he became minister of foreign affairs of the Norwegian government-in-exile. In February 1946 he became secretary-general of the United Nations. He acted in the interests of the Western powers, the USA and Great Britain in particular; this was especially apparent in 1950 at the time of the American armed intervention in Korea. Extension of the authority of Lie, realized in 1950 under pressure from the USA (in violation of the Charter of the United Nations), resulted in the protests of many member states of the UN. In April 1953, Lie was compelled to retire. He then held a number of government posts in Norway, including governor of Oslo-Akershus (1955–63), ambassador-at-large (1959–66), minister of industry (1963–64), and minister of commerce and shipping (1964–65).