Hans Rasmus Astrup (17 April 1831 in Bolsøy – 19 February 1898) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

industrial entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Astrup was born and raised at Bolsøy in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He was the son of Ebbe Carsten Tønder Astrup, who was mayor of Bolsøy for four years. He apprenticed as an office boy and salesman for Hans Clausen, who was a ship owner and fish exporter. In 1855, Astrup established his own import business. The trade expanded from fish to lumber, with suppliers in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Sweden and markets in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. In 1860, he established his office in Stockholm. The business expanded until a fire in 1874. The loss, reconstruction and subsequent economic downturn made the following years to a struggle. In 1885, Astrup signed a sales contract with Swedish company ''Stora Kopparberg'' (now

Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...

and returned to Norway. Astrup entered the cabinbet of Norwegian Prime Minister

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...

in 1885. He was Minister of Labour 1885–1887, and member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1887–1888. He resigned in 1888. He served in the Norwegian Parliament from

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

1889-1891 and 1895–1897. In 1884 he was a co-founder of the

Norwegian Association for Women's Rights The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights ( no, italic=no, Norsk Kvinnesaksforening; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's and girls' rights organization and works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights thr ...

.Indbydelse til at indtræde i Norsk Kvindesags-Forening stiftet den 28de Juni 1884
" ''

Bergens Tidende ''Bergens Tidende'' is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo. ''Bergens Tidende'' is owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norwegian owners held a mere 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end ...

'', 18 November 1884

References

1831 births 1898 deaths Labour ministers of Norway Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people {{Norway-politician-1830s-stub