Baard Iversen (22 September 1836 – 15 March 1920) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.

Biography

Iversen was born in 1836 in Aukra in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

, Norway . In 1854, at the age of eighteen he left home for the city Ålesund. In 1862, he moved to the larger city Trondhjem to establish his own trade agency. He was awarded burghership the same year, and opened his first store ''B. Iversen''. He moved the store to larger premises one year later, and expanded the field of business. In 1868, Iversen's company entered the shipping business, investing in a freight boat route between Trondhjem and

Frederikshald Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...

. Iversen later became a ship-owner, his first ship built in 1872 for traffic in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In 1890 a route between Trondhjem and Newcastle was established. Iversen also campaigned for a decent railway connection between Trondhjem and the southern cities. From 1895 he was a member of the working committee of the proposed Dovre Line, which would connect Trondhjem to the capital Oslo via

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

. It finally opened in 1921, one year after Iversen's death. Still, he was nicknamed "the father of the Dovre Line". Iversen was also involved in local politics and organizational life. He was a member of the executive committee of Trondhjem city council from 1881 to 1892, and chaired several public committees. He represented his city in the Norwegian Parliament as a deputy representative during the term 1892–1894. He co-founded the local chapter of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in 1883. He was also chairman of the Trondheim Commercial Association (''Trondhjems Handelsforening'') in several periods, and was a member of the Federation of Norwegian Commercial Associations from 1894 to 1900.

Personal life

He was married to Anna Johanne Georgine Junge (1842–1933). His son-in-law Trygve Marstrand Jørgensen became a partner in the company in 1907, and took over in 1915. Baard Iversen died at Trondheim in 1920. He had been proclaimed Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1900 and Commander of the same order in 1910. His life became the inspiration for the novel ''Brostein'' by Toril Brekke (Oslo: Aschehoug. 2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iversen, Baard 1836 births 1920 deaths People from Aukra People from Møre og Romsdal Norwegian company founders Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Deputy members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Trondheim