Christian Sparre (30 July 1859 – 4 November 1940) was a Norwegian Commanding Admiral and Member of Parliament. The mountain of

Sparrefjellet Sparrefjellet is a mountain in Oscar II Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It reaches a height of 788 m.a.s.l. and extends over a length of about five kilometers. The mountain is located between the glaciers of Venernbreen, Eidembreen and Stallobre ...

at Spitsbergen is named after him. Christian Herman Sparre was born in

Høland Høland is a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. History Høland was created in 1837 as a formannskapsdistrikt, a Norwegian local self-government district. The district Setskog was separated from Høland to form a separate municipali ...

(now Aurskog-Høland), Akershus, Norway. His father, Ole Jacob Louis Sparre (1831–1889), was a physician and Member of Parliament. Sparre grew up in

Rollag Rollag is a municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rollag, although the most pop ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Ha ...

and in Strandebarm in

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...

. He graduated from the

Norwegian Naval Academy The Royal Norwegian Naval Academy (RNoNA, ''Sjøkrigsskolen'' in Norwegian) is located at Laksevåg in Bergen. It was formally established 27 October 1817 in Frederiksvern. The institution educates officers for the Royal Norwegian Navy. History ...

in 1881. In addition to his maritime education, Sparre was a student at the

Norwegian Military Academy The Norwegian Military Academy (), in Oslo, educates officers of the Norwegian Army and serves as the King's Royal Guard. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway. History The Commander- ...

in 1884. Christian Sparre had a long and productive career. From 1881, he was a lieutenant in the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1884 and to captain in 1894. From 1898 to 1900, he was chief of the Naval Academy. In 1900, he was appointed commander and the following year he was promoted to vice admiral in the Navy. He served as commanding admiral in Norway from 1901 to 1909. He served on the Council of State Division in Stockholm from 1900 to 1901. From 1907 to 1910 he was a member of the city council in Christiania (now Oslo). He was elected to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 Horten in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

1913 and 1916, where he was deputy chairman of the Military Committee. Christian Sparre received a wide range of Norwegian and foreign orders and medals. He was appointed Commander of the 1st class Order of St. Olav in 1903.

References

1859 births 1940 deaths Norwegian Military Academy alumni Royal Norwegian Naval Academy alumni Academic staff of the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy Norwegian sailors Government ministers of Norway Royal Norwegian Navy admirals Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian crime fiction writers Norwegian military historians Norwegian maritime historians Norwegian editors Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour People from Rollag {{Norway-politician-1850s-stub