Mathias Bonsach Krogh (4 October 1754 – 2 September 1828) was a Norwegian clergyman who served as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland. Krogh was also a member of the first ordinary

Parliament of Norway 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 ...

Biography

Krogh was born Vadsø in Finnmark, Norway. He was the son of Truls Krogh and Else Marie, née Bonsach. Krogh was educated at the University of Copenhagen. He received his candidatus theologiæ degree in 1779. He began his career as the parish priest at Lenvik in Troms, a post he held from 1782 until 1788. From 1788 until 1798 he was the parish priest at Vågan in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

. Then, from 1798 until 1804, he was the parish priest at Ørland in

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

. On 6 January 1804, Krogh became the first Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland (called ''Tromsø Stift''). Until then, this area had been under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Nidaros. Krogh moved to

Alstahaug Alstahaug is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Som ...

, where he made the Alstahaug Church (''Alstahaug kirke''), the seat of the diocese. From 1805 until 1812 he served concurrently as parish priest of Alstahaug. Krogh was elected as a representative to the first ordinary

in 1815, which followed the 1814 Constitution. He served from 1815 until 1817 representing

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

. His active efforts, also in parliament, contributed to the establishment of

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

as the first market town in Nordland.''Mathias Bonsach Krogh-dager'' (stortinget.no)
/ref> Krogh received the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

in 1812 and, when the Danish-Norwegian union was dissolved and Norway entered a union with Sweden, received the Swedish Order of the Polar Star in 1815. Krogh remained bishop until his death in 1828. He was buried at the graveyard at Alstahaug Church.

References

1754 births 1828 deaths People from Vadsø Bishops of Hålogaland University of Copenhagen alumni 18th-century Lutheran bishops Members of the Storting Norwegian priest-politicians {{bishop-stub