Trygve Lie was awarded a large number of Norwegian and foreign orders. Among these, the Norwegian highest civilian award Medal for Outstanding Civic Service (Medaljen for borgerdåd) (1966), the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog (1954) and Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (1953), Czechoslovak OWL (1948). He was awarded numerous honorary doctorates by universities throughout the U.S. and Europe. Trygve Lie was the holder of a number of other orders, decorations and other honors.
"Trygve Lie′s Square" is located in Furuset center in Oslo. In the square stands the bronze statue of Trygve Lie, created by the Norwegian artist Nicolaus Widerberg which was erected in 1994. Trygve Lie Gallery and Trygve Lie Plaza are both located in New York City.
Lie was born in Kristiania on 16 July 1896. His father, carpenter Martin Lie, left the family to emigrate to the United States in 1902, and was never heard from again. Trygve grew up under poor conditions together with his mother Hulda and a sister who was six at the time. His mother ran a boarding house and café in Grorud in Oslo.
He married Hjørdis Jørgensen (1898-1960), in 1921. The couple had three daughters, Sissel, Guri, and Mette.
Lie joined the Labour Party in 1911 and was named as the party's national secretary soon after receiving his law degree from the University of Oslo in 1919. Lie was editor-in-chief for Det 20de Aarhundre ('The 20th Century') from 1919 to 1921. From 1922 to 1935 he was a legal consultant for the Workers' National Trade Union (named Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1957). He chaired the Norwegian Workers' Confederation of Sports from 1931 to 1935.
In local politics he served as a member of the executive committee of Aker municipality council from 1922 to 1931. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 1937. He was appointed Minister of Justice when a Labour Party government was formed by Johan Nygaardsvold in 1935. Lie was later appointed Minister of Trade (July to October 1939) and Minister of Supplies (October 1939 to 1941).
Lie led the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations conference in San Francisco in 1945 and was a leader in drafting the provisions of the United Nations Security Council. He was the leader of the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. On 1 February 1946, he was elected as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations as a result of a compromise between the major powers, having missed being elected President of the first General Assembly by only a small margin.
On 1 November 1950, over objections from the Soviet Union, the UN General Assembly voted by 46 votes to 5 (and 8 abstentions) to extend Lie's term of office. The vote was a consequence of an impasse in the Security Council in which the Soviet Union refused to consider Lie due to his involvement in the Korean War, while the US refused to accept any candidate except Lie. The Soviet Union subsequently refused to acknowledge Lie as Secretary-General and, having been accused by Joseph McCarthy of hiring "disloyal" Americans – an allegation that he attributed to the pressing need for civil servants following the establishment of the UN – Lie resigned on 10 November 1952.
Trygve Lie was awarded a large number of Norwegian and foreign orders. Among these, the Norwegian highest civilian award Medal for Outstanding Civic Service (Medaljen for borgerdåd) (1966), the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog (1954) and Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (1953), Czechoslovak OWL (1948). He was awarded numerous honorary doctorates by universities throughout the U.S. and Europe. Trygve Lie was the holder of a number of other orders, decorations and other honors.
Lie died on 30 December 1968 of a heart attack in Geilo, Norway. He was 72 years old.
