Christopher Knudsen (4 October 1843 – 28 July 1915) was a Norwegian priest and politician for 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 ...

. He was Minister of Education and Church Affairs from 1905 to 1906. Knudsen was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

as a son of railroad worker Knud Larssen (1814–66) and Marie A. Christophersen Aaserud (1812–1890). He was married twice; first from February 1869 to Marie Charlotte Andrea Hermanstorff (1849–1873), then from September 1874 to Ida Regine Lohne (1855–1949). He was an uncle of politician

Knud Christian Knudsen Knud Christian Knudsen (18 January 1887 – 24 May 1969) was a Norwegian merchant and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born in Drammen; the son of wholesaler August Martinius Knudsen (1858–1922) and Anne Margrethe Høstad (1858� ...

. He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1861, graduated with the

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in 1867, and in 1879 he became

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

in the newly established parish of

Nedre Eiker Nedre Eiker was a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mjøndal ...

. When Nedre Eiker became its own municipality in 1885, he sat in the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

and on the school board and was elected mayor. He left Nedre Eiker in 1886, and became a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in Drammen. He was elected to 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 ...

from that city in

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

and

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

. He was then elected for a third term in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

from the constituency

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

, where he had been appointed vicar. On 11 March 1905, when

Michelsen's Cabinet The Michelsen's Cabinet was a Norwegian cabinet, formed by a coalition of the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Moderate Liberal Party and the Coalition Party. It governed Norway between 11 March 1905 and 23 October 1907. It entered offic ...

assumed office, Knudsen was appointed Norwegian Minister of Education and Church Affairs. This cabinet oversaw the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 The dissolution of the union ( nb, unionsoppløsningen; nn, unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; sv, unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolut ...

. Knudsen left the cabinet on 26 January 1906.

References

1843 births 1915 deaths Politicians from Drammen University of Oslo alumni Norwegian schoolteachers Norwegian priest-politicians Government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Buskerud Ministers of Education of Norway {{Norway-politician-1840s-stub