Gordon Axel Madsen (born 1929) is a former state legislator and assistant attorney general in Utah. He is currently working as a co-editor of the business and legal papers in the

Joseph Smith Papers Project ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint ...

. Madsen is married to

Carol Cornwall Madsen Carol Cornwall Madsen (born 1930) is an emeritus professor of history at Brigham Young University (BYU) where she was a research historian with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. She also served as associate director of BYU's ...

. Madsen was born to Axel A. Madsen and his wife the former Emily Wells Grant in Salt Lake City. His mother died about two weeks after his birth. He was raised by his father, his grandparents Heber J. Grant and wife Augusta Winters (his mother's step-mother) and various six sisters of his mother and their families, all living within just a few houses of each other in the Avenues section of Salt Lake City. Madsen is the younger brother of noted Latter-day Saint scholar and philosopher

Truman G. Madsen Truman Grant Madsen (13 December 1926 – 28 May 2009) was a professor of religion and philosophy at Brigham Young University (BYU) and director of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was a prolific author ...

. Madsen has B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Utah. Early in his career, he served as a district attorney and then assistant attorney general in Utah. He served in the latter position from 1959 to 1964. Since 1964, he has been a lawyer in private practice. From 1969 to 1971, Madsen served as a member of the Utah House of Representatives. Madsen in 1990 and 2004, published articles in '' BYU Studies'' about trials involving Joseph Smith. Madsen has also worked as an adjunct faculty member at Brigham Young University's

J. Reuben Clark Law School The J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law or JRCLS) is the graduate law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, a former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and g ...

.J. Reuben Clark Law School adjunct faculty bio
/ref> Madsen is a Latter-day Saint. In a 1996 presentation to the Mormon History Association, he presented evidence that he said demonstrated that William Law's accusations of fraud against

Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

were false. Gordon and Carol Madsen are the parents of six children.

Sources

Joseph Smith papers project contributors bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madsen, Gordon A. Latter Day Saints from Utah University of Utah alumni Members of the Utah House of Representatives Brigham Young University faculty Utah lawyers Living people S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni District attorneys in Utah 1929 births