Gunnar Knudsen (19 September 1848 – 1 December 1928), born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Norway twice from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920. He also inherited a shipping company, and founded the shipping company Borgestad ASA.

Early life and education

Knudsen was born in 1848 at the medium-sized farm

Saltrød Saltrød is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located along the Norwegian County Road 410, about northeast of the town of Arendal and about southwest of the village of Eydehavn Eydehavn or Eydehamn is ...

at Stokken (now

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

) in

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

. Norway. His father Christen Knudsen (1813–1888) was a sea captain and ship-owner, whose ancestors had lived at the farm for several generations. His mother Guro Aadnesdatter (1808–1900) had grown up at one of the smaller farms in Saltrød which her father which hailed from

Vegusdal Vegusdal is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until its dissolution in 1967. It was located in the northwestern part of the present-day municipality of Birkenes in Agder county. Th ...

had bought. A brother of Gunnar died in 1855, his two living siblings were

Jørgen Christian Knudsen Jørgen Christian Knudsen (5 January
in ''Porsgrunds udvikling 1860-1900'', by A. L. Coll. Hosted by Porsgrunn public ...

(born 1843) and Ellen Serine (born 1846) who married

Johan Jeremiassen Johan Jeremiassen (8 January 1843- 25 January 1889) was a Norwegian entrepreneur, ship-owner, consul and politician. He established the porcelain flatware company. Porsgrund Porselænsfabrik.

. Christen Knudsen established a shipyard in Arendal in 1851, but in 1855 he and the family moved to Frednes in Porsgrunn. Gunnar Knudsen started studying at Chalmers University of Technology in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden in 1865 where he got a degree as engineer in 1867.

Business career

Returning to Norway, he started working at Aker's Mechanical Workshop and then went to England where he studied ship building technics at Piles Shipyard in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. The first ship he designed for the family's shipyard was ''Gambetta'', named after the French politician Léon Gambetta. It was launched in 1871. The stay in England convinced Knudsen that the days of sail ships would soon be over and that the family business needed to start building steam ships in the future. Gunnar and his brother Jørgen Christian took over the shipyard from their father in 1872. In the following years they would also take over ships their father owned and the brothers formed a shipyard and shipping company together: J.C. og G. Knudsen. In the period until 1879, Knudsen designed five ships for the company. He named the fifth ''Crossroad''; it was the last sail ship he designed. In 1904, he merged his interests in three steam ship companies into Borgestad Shipping AS.

Political career

In 1886, he became the mayor of Gjerpen and in 1891 elected governor of Telemark. In 1891 Knudsen was elected to the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

, becoming parliamentary leader in 1908 and party leader from 1909 to 1927. He was elected Prime Minister in 1908 and 1913. In social policy, Knudsen's time as prime minister saw the passage of the Sickness insurance Law of September 1909, which provided compulsory coverage for employees and workers below a certain income limit, representing approximately 45% of all wage earners. That same year, the state approved free midwife services for unmarried mothers. In 1915, free midwife services were extended to the wives of men included under the national health insurance scheme.

Personal life

Gunnar Knudsen married Anna Sofie

Cappelen Cappelen is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cappelen (family), a distinguished Norwegian family * Andreas Zeier Cappelen (1915–2008), Norwegian jurist and politician * August Cappelen (1827–1852), Norwegian paint ...

(1854–1915) in 1880, and together they had five children, born between 1882 and 1893; Erik, Christen, Gudrun,

Margit Margit is a feminine given name, a version of Margaret. People bearing the name include: * Margit of Hungary (1175–1223), Empress consort of Isaac II Angelos, Byzantine Emperor * Saint Margit of Hungary (1242–1271), Hungarian nun and princ ...

and Rolf.Utdrag av Gjerpens kirkebøker i hundrede aar: 1815–1914, vedkommende fødte, gifte og døde av mere almindelig interesse
/ref> Margit, married Schiøtt, was elected to the national parliament in 1945. Christen Knudsen had a son Knut Andreas Knudsen who became a politician as well.

References

Sources

External links

Borgestad ASA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Gunnar 1848 births 1928 deaths Presidents of the Storting Members of the Storting Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Prime Ministers of Norway Ministers of Agriculture and Food of Norway Norwegian company founders Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Politicians from Skien Ministers of Finance of Norway