Sigurd Astrup (6 August 1873 – August 1949) was a Norwegian businessman and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Personal life

Astrup was born in

Kristiania 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 ...

, the son of Harald Astrup (1831–1914), a wholesaler, and his wife, Johanne Emilie Smith (1836–1915). His brothers were the architects Henning (1864–96) and

Thorvald Astrup Thorvald Astrup (18 May 1876 – 12 August 1940) was a Norwegian architect, particularly known for industrial architecture. He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of city captain Harald Astrup and Johanne Emilie Smith. ...

(1876–1940) and the polar explorer

Eivind Astrup Eivind Astrup (; 17 September 1871 – 27 December 1895) was a Norwegian explorer and writer. Astrup participated in Robert Peary's expedition to Greenland in 1891–92 and mapped northern Greenland. In the follow-up Greenland expedition by Pe ...

(1871–95). He was a brother-in-law of fellow conservative politician Peder Andreas Morell. He was married to Ingeborg Willumsen (1877–1962); their son Harald Astrup married Mabel, a sister of Barthold A. Butenschøn, Sr. and, like his father, embarked on a mercantile career.

Career

The young Astrup was educated at the private Gjertsen School in Kristiania, before embarking on his philological and mercantile studies in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1895, the company Astrup & Smith, founded by his father on 6 August 1857, appointed Astrup as its office chief. He became part owner in 1906. The company subsequently changed name from Astrup & Smith to Astrup & Søn. Astrup became the sole owner of the company in 1914. Representing the Oslo Conservative Party, Astrup was elected to the

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 ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

; he sat through one term. Astrup also had positions in parliamentary committees, in Statens metalsentral (1918–1920) and in boards of Norwegian corporations. He chaired Standards Norway from 1924 to 1934 and Christiania Søforsikringsselskab from 1932 to 1944, as well as

Norsk Spisevognselskap Norsk Spisevognselskap A/S, often abbreviated NSS or shortened to Spisevognselskapet (Norwegian for "The Dining Car Company"), was a Norwegian state enterprise which operated restaurant carriages on Norwegian trains and restaurants at railway ...

, Grubernes Sprængstoffabriker and Dalen Portland. He was a board member of '' Norges Handels- og Sjøfartstidende'' from 1917 to 1933,

Den norske Creditbank Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank (DnB). The bank was based in Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most pop ...

from 1928 to 1944 (deputy chairman since 1932),

Storebrand Storebrand is a financial services company in Norway. By volume, the company's main activities are related to life insurance and pension savings. However, the company also has major divisions working on investments, banking and, until 1999 and ...

and Idun from 1931 to 1946, as well as

Elektrokemisk Elkem is a company that produces silicones, silicon, alloys for the foundry industry, carbon and microsilica, and other materials. Elkem was founded in 1904, has more than 7,000 employees and fields 30 production sites worldwide. Elkem has an oper ...

. He was also a supervisory council member of Filharmonisk Selskap. He died in August 1949, aged 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrup, Sigurd 1873 births 1949 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Politicians from Oslo