Anton Elias Smitt (7 May 1883 – 1970) was a Norwegian forester. He was born in Bergen as a son of shipbuilder and works owner Georg Christian Smitt and Marie Cathrine Wolff. His father was a half-brother (different mother) of Jonas,

Livius ''Livius'' is a genus of South American tangled nest spiders containing the single species, ''Livius macrospinus''. It was first described by V. D. Roth in 1967, and has only been found in Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ...

and

Jakob Sverdrup Smitt Jacob Sverdrup Smitt (6 January 1835 – 6 June 1889) was a Norwegian bishop and politician. Career Smitt was born in Nordre Land, Norway. He was the son of the dean Anton Elias Smitt (1805–1875) and Livia Sverdrup (1808–1840), and brother ...

. Smitt graduated from the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1909. He worked as the county forester of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

from 1914 to 1923, and at the research institution ''Vestlandets forstlige forsøksstasjon'' from 1923 to 1928. From 1 January 1928 to 31 December 1956 he served as its general director. As general director of the institute, Smitt was influential on the practice of large-scale forest planting in Western Norway, Central Norway and

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

. He travelled extensively abroad, to study methods and ways to plant forest in the somewhat rough climate in these parts of Norway. Among others he found the North American species '' Picea sitchensis'' to be suitable for Norway, during a study trip in 1916 and 1917. The biographical dictionary '' Norsk biografisk leksikon'' referred to this forest planting as a "national task on the highest level". Anton Elias Smitt died in 1970. ''Vestlandets forstlige forsøksstasjon'' became a part of ''Skogforsk'' through a 1972 merger, which in turn became the

Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute ( no, Norsk institutt for skog og landskap) was a research institute based in Norway. Organizationally subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, it is autonomous in its research. It ...

through a 2006 merger.

References

1883 births 1970 deaths Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Norwegian foresters Scientists from Bergen {{forestry-researcher-stub