Finn Thrana

Who was Finn Thrana?

Finn Thrana was a Norwegian barrister and civil servant for Nasjonal Samling.

He was a jurist by education, having graduated from the Royal Frederick University in 1938. From the same year he worked as a junior solicitor in Gjøvik. He was a member of Quisling's Fascist party Nasjonal Samling from 1934.

In 1940, after the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany had started, Nasjonal Samling became the only legal party in Norway. In the autumn of 1940 Thrana negotiated for his party with the Norwegian Agrarian Association. In 1941 he was hired as assistant secretary in the Secretariat of the Government, and in 1942 he was promoted to secretary of the government. In this position, he had responsibility for the government's protocols, public announcements and job appointments. He also had responsibility for the office that reviewed pleas in criminal cases. From 1944 he was the Nasjonal Samling Führer in the county of Oppland. The German occupation ended on 8 May 1945, and Thrana promptly lost his position.

After the war he helped Vidkun Quisling, who was sentenced to death, write his will. He was also Maria Quisling's trustee after her death. In 1951 he was hired in the Norwegian Tax Administration, and in 1955 he opened his own lawyer's office which he operated until retiring at the age of 80. From 1966 he had access to work with Supreme Court cases, and worked in this field until his retirement.