Johan Throne Holst (7 February 1868 – 13 February 1946), was a Norwegian industrialist and politician for the

Liberal Left Party The Free-minded Liberal Party ( no, Frisinnede Venstre) was a political party in Norway founded in 1909 by the conservative-liberal faction of the Liberal Party. The party cooperated closely with the Conservative Party and participated in severa ...

(''Frisinnede Venstre''). He was the founder of Marabou and CEO of Freia, now owned and operated by

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Biography

Throne Holst was born in

Trondheim, Norway Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most pop ...

. He was the son of Johan Martinus Brodtkorb Holst (1829-1913) and Josefa Gørvell (1835-1913). Throne Holst graduated from Trondheim Cathedral School and attended a trade school in

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(1887–88). He started his business career as a salesman in his father's merchant business in Trondheim. In 1892, Holst bought a recently started chocolate factory in Oslo. Holst built up Freia (''Freia Chocolade Fabrik'') to be Norway's leading chocolate manufacturer, and a modern workplace, with canteens and its own park for workers, Freiaparken in Oslo. The company was also the first in Norway with its own health care policy, and the first with a 48-hour working week. His son, Harald Throne-Holst was managing director of the Freia chocolate factory from 1948 to 1970 and later CEO. In 1916, Throne Holst established chocolate production at Sundbyberg, Sweden under the brand name Marabou with his son Henning Throne-Holst (1895-1980) as CEO and director. The brand Marabou was created as the brand name Freia already existed in Sweden. Actual production did not start until 1919 due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He served in the Oslo city council (1904–10) and 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 ...

(1909–12) as a representative of the Oslo neighborhood of Hammersborg. In 1923, Throne Holst was appointed chairman of

Handelsbanken Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Swedish bank providing banking services including traditional corporate transactions, investment banking and trading as well as consumer banking including insurance. Handelsbanken is one of the major banks in Sweden ...

. Holst distanced himself from

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally list of heads of government of Norway, headed the government of Norway during t ...

by the beginning of the 1930s. In 1941, Holst was in the minority in the

Federation of Norwegian Industries The Federation of Norwegian Industries ( no, Norsk Industri) is an employers' organisation in Norway, organized under the national Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise ( no, Næringslivets Hovedorganisa ...

who protested against the increased trade that would be introduced during Nazi German occupation.

Personal life

In 1894, he married Hanna Richter Jenssen (1873-1952), daughter of Hans Peter Jenssen (1848-1902) and Signe Klingenberg (1852-1925). They were the parents of business executives Henning Throne-Holst (1895-1980) and Harald Throne-Holst (1905-96). Johan Throne Holst died during 1946 and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...

in Oslo. His family retained control over both Marabou and Freia until 1992.

Selected works

* ''Industri og industrielle problemer : belyst ved erfaringer fra A/S Freia Chocolade Fabrik'' (Kristiania: Aschehoug. 1914) * ''Erindringer og refleksjoner. '' (Oslo: Gyldendal. 1941)

References

Other sources

*Rudeng, Erik (1989) ''Sjokoladekongen : Johan Throne Holst – en biografi'' (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget( .

External links

Freia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holst, Johan Throne 1868 births 1946 deaths People from Trondheim People educated at the Trondheim Cathedral School Norwegian company founders Norwegian industrialists Norwegian anti-communists Norwegian people of World War II Free-minded Liberal Party politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour