Broder Lysholm Knudtzon (5 October 178820 March 1864) was a Norwegian merchant, politician and benefactor. Born into one of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

's wealthiest mercantile families, he travelled to England where he developed a great admiration of

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Despite his commercial background he was more drawn towards the fields of politics, culture and art. He nevertheless administrated his father's family firm, acting as foreign correspondent with little interest in the everyday business. In England he befriended

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

and came under the influence of the English national liberal movement. He

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the ...

his entire library and several artworks to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.

Early years

Knudtzon was born in

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

; he was the sixth and youngest child of

Hans Carl Knudtzon Hans Carl Knudtzon (29 January 175116 December 1823) was a Norwegian merchant, ship-owner and politician. Born in the north of Germany to a mercantile family, he travelled to Trondheim, Norway, where he had success in the trading business. He was a ...

(1751–1823), a merchant and burgomaster, and Karen Knudtzon (née Müller, 1752–1818).Bratberg, "Knudtzon." Knudtzon's father was of German origin and had moved to Norway to further his career as a merchant. His firm was flourishing financially, and the Knudtzon family became a rallying point for Trondheim's artists and authors. Having spent his childhood in Trondheim, Broder Knudtzon moved to

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

, Germany in 1796 to live in the house of his father's uncle.Aase 133. Upon his confirmation, Knudtzon travelled back to Trondheim where he was apprenticed to his father.Bull, "Broder Knudtzon." He subsequently travelled around in France in search of a mercantile education; in Paris he met the Danish poet and playwright

Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthems ...

. After a brief visit to his sister in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, he relocated to England, where he came in contact with poet

and other leading figures in the national liberal movement. During his stay in England, he acquired a great fondness and knowledge of the English language, literature and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. In a later trip to Italy he met the Danish-Icelandic sculptor

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

, who made portrait busts of him and other members of his family.

Mercantile and political engagement

In the spring of 1814, Broder and his brother

Jørgen Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegian gymnast * Jørgen ...

assisted

Carsten Anker Carsten Tank Anker (17 November 1747 – 13 March 1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant, politician and one of the Fathers of the Constitution of Norway. He was the owner of the manor house in Akershus at which the original National As ...

in his endeavour to gain English supporters of an independent Norway. As a member of 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 ...

's deputation to Sweden, Knudtzon travelled with his father to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in the autumn of the same year. On his return from Stockholm, he became foreign correspondent of his father's firm Hans Knudtzon & Co, which he owned together with his brother Christian and his brother-in-law

Lorentz Johannsen Lorentz Johannsen (14 September 1769 – 27 April 1837) was a Norwegian merchant and member of the Norwegian Parliament. Lorentz Johannsen was born at Glücksburg in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein (now in Germany). In ...

. He maintained that his own duties in the firm's office were a displeasure, and was once quoted as saying: "Business I hate, and for reading there is not leisure". A supplementary member of the Storting, he met in the parliament once, acting as secretary for the constitution committee. During 1839–57, he was a member of the supervisory board of Norges Bank. He became a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters in 1821, and was its secretary from 1825 to 1831. Having a profound wish to spread erudition in Norway, he used his acquaintances in England to supply the society with enlightenment books and journals. Knudtzon eventually bequeathed his entire book collection and five of Thorvaldsen's sculptures to the society, with the condition that they not move to Christiania.Aase 132.Nielsen 159.

Death and legacy

Knudtzon died unmarried on 20 March 1864 in Trondheim. He was buried in

Vår Frue Church Vår Frue Church ( no, Vår Frue kirke / en, Our Lady's Church) is a medieval parish church of the Church of Norway in Trondheim municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the downtown Midtbyen area of the city of Trondheim, ...

, where he also had been christened. Prior to his death, he had burned all his letters and notes, including his correspondences with Lord Byron. Little remains therefore of his written production, aside from a few translations and periodical articles.Aase 134. A biographer once wrote of him:

Mr. Knudtzon is a banker of eminence at Trondheim. He resided some years in England; hence, to the hospitable kindness of a native of the north and the acquirements of a literary man he unites the polish and refinement of an English gentleman.

References

Works cited

*Aase, Monica. "En europeer i Trondheim – Broder Lysholm Knudtzon og hans bibliotek." ''Til opplysning: Universitetsbiblioteket i Trondheim 1768–1993.'' Ed. Harald Nissen and Monica Aase. Trondheim: Tapir Forlag, 1993. 132–137. . Print. * Bratberg, Terje. "Knudtzon." ''

Trondheim byleksikon ''Trondheim byleksikon'' ("Trondheim City Encyclopedia") is a printed encyclopedia which covers Trondheim, Norway. Published by Kunnskapsforlaget and written by Terje Bratberg, the first edition was published in 1996 ahead of the city's 1000th ...

.'' Ed.

Jon Gunnar Arntzen Jon Gunnar Arntzen (born 1951) is a Norwegian encyclopedist. He studied at the University of Oslo where he got his cand.mag. in 1974. His main interest is the history of Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous ci ...

. Trondheim: Kunnskapsforlaget, 1996. 296. . Print. *–––.
Lorentz Johannsen
" ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

.'' Ed.

Knut Helle Knut Helle (19 December 1930 – 27 June 2015) was a Norwegian historian. A professor at the University of Bergen from 1973 to 2000, he specialized in the late medieval history of Norway. He has contributed to several large works. Early life, ed ...

. Vol. 5. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2002. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. *Bull, Ida.
Broder Knudtzon
" ''Norsk biografisk leksikon.'' Ed. Knut Helle. Vol. 5. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2002. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. *–––.
Hans Carl Knudtzon
" ''Norsk biografisk leksikon.'' Ed. Knut Helle. Vol. 5. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2002. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. *Nielsen, Lauritz.

" '' Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen'' 10 (1923): 155–66. Web. 19 Dec. 2011.

Early years

Mercantile and political engagement

Death and legacy

References

Works cited

Further reading