Viking Mestad

{{short description|Norwegian banker and politician}}

Viking Mestad (12 January 1930 – 15 December 2013) was a Norwegian banker and politician for the Liberal Party.

He took the cand.jur. degree in 1955,{{cite news|title=Viking Mestad|date=30 December 2013|work=Aftenposten|author=Qvigstad, Jan F.|language=no}} and was hired in the Bank of Norway in 1962. In 1986 he was promoted from the position as head of the administration department to become director of the secretariat of the board (Hovedstyresekretariatet).{{cite news|title=Eksportutsending Petter Johansen|date=21 April 1986|work=Aftenposten|language=no}} He remained in the Bank of Norway until his retirement in 1995. In 2002 he issued the study Frå fot til feste - norsk valutarett og valutapolitikk 1873-2001.

From 1972 to 1973 he served as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Government Administration and Consumer Affairs as a part of Korvald's Cabinet.{{cite web|url=http://www.regjeringen.no/en/The-Government/previous-governments/the-structure-of-the-registry/governments/modern-times/governments-since-1945/lars-korvalds-government-1972-1973.html?id=438724|title=Lars Korvald's Government|publisher=Government.no|language=no|access-date=9 March 2009}} He was also a member of Oslo city council in the early 1970s.{{cite news|title=Oslo bystyre|date=27 April 1971|work=Verdens Gang|language=no}}

Mestad was a proponent of the Nynorsk written form of Norwegian.{{cite news|title=No skal Vinje kvernast|last=Fyllingsnes|first=Ottar|work=Dag og Tid|language=no}} From 1977 to 1997 he was the chair of the theatre Det Norske Teatret. He was succeeded by Berge Furre.{{cite news|title=Furre ny styreleder på Det Norske Teatret|date=28 April 1997|work=Aftenposten|language=no}} Two months after retiring, Mestad was proclaimed an honorary member of the employers' association Association of Norwegian Theatres and Orchestras. At the same time he also received the Hedda Award.{{cite news|title=Heløe ny leder i NTO|date=20 June 1997|work=Aftenposten|language=no}}

He is the father of actor Henrik Mestad{{cite news|title=Vellykket liberaler|last=Eriksen|first=Kirsten Osmo|date=25 March 1995|work=Nordlys|language=no}} and Viking Mestad died in December 2013.