Gunnar Knudsen (19 September 1848 – 1 December 1928), born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a
Norwegian politician from the
Liberal Party who served as the 11th
Prime Minister of Norway twice from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920. He also inherited a
shipping company, and founded the shipping company
Borgestad ASA.
Early life and education
Knudsen was born in 1848 at the medium-sized farm
Saltrød at
Stokken (now
Arendal
Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...
) in
Aust-Agder
Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...
. Norway. His father
Christen Knudsen (1813–1888) was a sea captain and ship-owner, whose ancestors had lived at the farm for several generations. His mother Guro Aadnesdatter (1808–1900) had grown up at one of the smaller farms in Saltrød which her father which hailed from
Vegusdal
Vegusdal is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until its dissolution in 1967. It was located in the northwestern part of the present-day municipality of Birkenes in Agder county. Th ...
had bought. A brother of Gunnar died in 1855, his two living siblings were
Jørgen Christian Knudsen
Jørgen Christian Knudsen (5 January
in ''Porsgrunds udvikling 1860-1900'', by A. L. Coll. Hosted by Porsgrunn public ...
(born 1843) and Ellen Serine (born 1846) who married
Johan Jeremiassen Johan Jeremiassen (8 January 1843- 25 January 1889) was a Norwegian entrepreneur, ship-owner, consul and politician. He established the porcelain flatware company. Porsgrund Porselænsfabrik.
.
Christen Knudsen established a shipyard in Arendal in 1851, but in 1855 he and the family moved to
Frednes in
Porsgrunn.
Gunnar Knudsen started studying at
Chalmers University of Technology in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Sweden in 1865 where he got a degree as engineer in 1867.
Business career
Returning to Norway, he started working at
Aker's Mechanical Workshop and then went to England where he studied ship building technics at Piles Shipyard in
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. The first ship he designed for the family's shipyard was ''Gambetta'', named after the French politician
Léon Gambetta. It was launched in 1871. The stay in England convinced Knudsen that the days of sail ships would soon be over and that the family business needed to start building steam ships in the future.
Gunnar and his brother Jørgen Christian took over the shipyard from their father in 1872. In the following years they would also take over ships their father owned and the brothers formed a shipyard and shipping company together: J.C. og G. Knudsen. In the period until 1879, Knudsen designed five ships for the company. He named the fifth ''Crossroad''; it was the last sail ship he designed. In 1904, he merged his interests in three steam ship companies into Borgestad Shipping AS.
Political career
In 1886, he became the mayor of
Gjerpen and in 1891 elected governor of
Telemark. In 1891 Knudsen was elected to 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 ...
, becoming parliamentary leader in 1908 and party leader from 1909 to 1927. He was elected Prime Minister in 1908 and 1913. In social policy, Knudsen's time as prime minister saw the passage of the Sickness insurance Law of September 1909, which provided compulsory coverage for employees and workers below a certain income limit, representing approximately 45% of all wage earners. That same year, the state approved free midwife services for unmarried mothers. In 1915, free midwife services were extended to the wives of men included under the national health insurance scheme.
Personal life
Gunnar Knudsen married Anna Sofie
Cappelen Cappelen is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Cappelen (family), a distinguished Norwegian family
* Andreas Zeier Cappelen (1915–2008), Norwegian jurist and politician
* August Cappelen (1827–1852), Norwegian paint ...
(1854–1915) in 1880, and together they had five children, born between 1882 and 1893; Erik, Christen, Gudrun,
Margit
Margit is a feminine given name, a version of Margaret.
People bearing the name include:
* Margit of Hungary (1175–1223), Empress consort of Isaac II Angelos, Byzantine Emperor
* Saint Margit of Hungary (1242–1271), Hungarian nun and princ ...
and Rolf.
Utdrag av Gjerpens kirkebøker i hundrede aar: 1815–1914, vedkommende fødte, gifte og døde av mere almindelig interesse
/ref> Margit, married Schiøtt, was elected to the national parliament in 1945. Christen Knudsen had a son Knut Andreas Knudsen who became a politician as well.
See also
*Knudsen's First Cabinet
Knudsen's First Cabinet governed Norway between 19 March 1908 and 2 February 1910. It had the following composition:
Cabinet members
State Secretary
Not to be confused with the modern title State Secretary. The old title State Secretar ...
*Knudsen's Second Cabinet
Knudsen's Second Cabinet was the government of Norway from 31 January 1913 to 21 June 1920, led by prime minister Gunnar Knudsen. It was a Liberal Party minority government. It was formed following Jens Bratlie
Jens Kristian Meinich Bratlie ( ...
References
Sources
*
External links
Borgestad ASA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Gunnar
1848 births
1928 deaths
Presidents of the Storting
Members of the Storting
Liberal Party (Norway) politicians
Government ministers of Norway
Prime Ministers of Norway
Ministers of Agriculture and Food of Norway
Norwegian company founders
Norwegian businesspeople in shipping
Politicians from Skien
Ministers of Finance of Norway