Mathias Bonsach Krogh (4 October 1754 – 2 September 1828) was a Norwegian clergyman who served as the first Bishop of the

Diocese of Hålogaland The Diocese of Hålogaland ( no, Hålogaland bispedømme, historically: ) was a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covered the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within all of Northern Norway (including Nordland, Troms, and F ...

. 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 Vadsø (; sme, Čáhcesuolu; fkv, Vesisaari) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vadsø, which was the administrative centre of the former Finnmark county. Other ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

, Norway. He was the son of Truls Krogh and Else Marie, née Bonsach. Krogh was educated at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. He received his candidatus theologiæ degree in 1779. He began his career as the parish priest at

Lenvik Lenvik ( sme, Leaŋgáviika) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the isla ...

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

, a post he held from 1782 until 1788. From 1788 until 1798 he was the parish priest at

Vågan Vågan ( sme, Vuogát) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Svolvær. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen, ...

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 Ørland is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. Ørland is located at the southwestern tip of the Fosen peninsula at the northern shore of the mouth of Trondheimsfjord where the Stjørnfjorden arm begins. ...

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 Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 Church ( no, Alstahaug kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Alstahaug in Nordland county, Norway. It is one of seven surviving medieval churches in northern Norway. Petter Dass was the vicar at this ch ...

(''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 The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

in 1815. Krogh remained bishop until his death in 1828. He was buried at the graveyard at

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