Carl Severin Bentzen, often called C. S. Bentzen (13 September 1882 – 1956) was a Norwegian tailor and politician for the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and Social Democratic Labour parties. He was a son of tailor Wilhelm Julius Bentzen (1855–1911) and Sofie Nilson (1859–1936), and learned the trade from his father. He studied further in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He completed his ''Gesellenprüfung'' in 1904, and acquired burghership in

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...

in 1911. He had joined the labour movement in 1904, and was a member of the executive committee of Hønefoss city council from 1910 to 1922, serving as mayor from 1913 to 1915. He founded the first

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in Ringerike, in 1903, and was also involved in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

as the county leader of Det Norske Totalavholdsselskap. He stood for general election several times, first in the single-member constituency ''Kongsberg og Hønefoss''. In the 1912 election, Bentzen was the deputy candidate of J. O. Jarnæs, but the constituency was carried by Nils Gulliksen Berg. In the 1915 election, Bentzen (with Jarnæs as running mate) won the first round against Berg with 2,394 against 1,684 votes; but lost the second round with 2,753 against 3,038 votes. In

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

he was however elected, and from 1919 to 1921 he served one term in the

Parliament of Norway 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 ...

, representing the urban constituency ''Kongsberg, Hønefoss og Notodden''. He headed his ballot in the

Market towns of Buskerud county The Market towns of Buskerud county ( no, Kjøpstedene i Buskerud fylke) was an electoral district for parliamentary elections in Norway. It comprised the market towns ( no, kjøpsteder) of Drammen, Hønefoss and Kongsberg in Buskerud county. The ...

for the 1921 general election but was not re-elected. Bentzen was a member of the Labour Party's central board from 1915 to 1918. He also represented his party in the

Defence Commission of 1920 Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. In 1921 he left the Labour Party, joined the Social Democratic Labour Party. He was a member of their national board from 1921 to 1927. The two parties then reunited. From 1923 to 1925 he was the burgomaster of Hønefoss. He was again a councilman from 1931 to 1941, and mayor briefly in 1946. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was arrested and incarcerated in Grini concentration camp from 20 September to 28 November 1944, then in Akershus Fortress until the war's end. He died in 1956. Together with Anna Gulliksen (1884–1942) he had the son

Torfinn Bentzen Torfinn Bentzen (1912–1986) was a Norwegian jurist and sports official. He chaired the Norwegian Confederation of Sports The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og ...

, a barrister and conservative politician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentzen, Carl Severin 1882 births 1956 deaths People from Ringerike (municipality) Norwegian tailors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway politicians Members of the Storting Mayors of places in Buskerud Norwegian trade unionists Norwegian temperance activists Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors