Mikkel Dobloug (23 December 1844 – 18 October 1913) was a Norwegian merchant, wholesaler, philanthropist, and politician.

Biography

Mikkel Mikkelsen Dobloug was born at Vang in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...

, Norway. He was the son of farmer Mikkel Dobloug (1799–1844) and Anne Ry (1806-1879). He was the youngest of eight siblings and born after his father's death. In 1870, he founded the company Brødrene Dobloug in Christiania, along with his brother Jens Dobloug (1837-1891). After a few years, Jens left the business due to personal illness. The mercantile trade grew rapidly and became a nationwide enterprise. Alongside the retail sector, Dobloug was also established as a wholesaler. He was a local politician for 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 ...

. He was among the founders of the

Free-minded Liberal 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 ...

() in 1909. Together with newspaper editor Ola Thommessen, he contributed to the foundation of the newspaper ''

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Tho ...

''. The neighborhood of Doblougløkken and the street Mikkel Doblougs gate in the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

district of

St. Hanshaugen St. Hanshaugen (Norwegian for St. John's Hill) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Area It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hos ...

were both named in his honor.

Personal life

He was married in 1878 to Susanna Nilsdatter Baashuus (1851-1931), daughter of farmer Nils Baashus (b. 1814) and Berthe Marie Roseth (b. 1816). They were the parents of five children. In 1912, they established the charitable foundation ''Svanhild og Sigrun Doblougs legat for oppdragelse af pigebørn'' in memory of two of his daughters. Their daughter, Anne Thommessen (1880-1968) was married to newspaper editor

Rolf Thommessen Rolf Thommessen (22 July 1879 – 9 December 1939) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor and politician. He edited the newspaper ''Tidens Tegn'' from 1917 to 1938. He was a member of the Parliament of Norway from 1928 to 1930, represe ...

. Their son Birger Dobloug (1881-1944) was a businessman and philanthropist for whom the

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

(''Doblougprisen'') was named. Their son Ingar Dobloug (1888-1976) took over the Brødrene Dobloug firm after the death of his father. Dobloug closed its doors in 1986 after 116 years of operation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobloug, Mikkel 1844 births 1913 deaths People from Hedmark Norwegian company founders Norwegian merchants Norwegian business executives Norwegian philanthropists Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Hedmark politicians 19th-century Norwegian businesspeople 19th-century philanthropists