Sofus Anton Birger Arctander (22 January 1845 - 20 August 1924) was a politician with 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 ...

who served as acting

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

during 1905.

Background

Sofus Arctander was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Hans Steenbuch Arctander (1801-1885) and Martha Dahll Nielsen (1804-1896). When he was eight years old, his family moved to

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

. He was a teacher and librarian in

Selje Selje (municipality) was a municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje was the administrative center this municipality. On 1 January 2020 the municipalit ...

and

Nordfjordeid Nordfjordeid is the administrative centre of the municipality of Stad in Vestland county, western Norway. It is located at the end of the Eidsfjorden, an arm off of the main Nordfjorden, west of the large lake Hornindalsvatnet. The village of ...

. He received a law degree from the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1870, then studied economy and philosophy at the

University of Lund , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Hadsel Hadsel ( sme, Válafierda) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stokmarknes. Other villages in Hadsel include Fiskebø ...

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 ...

(1872-1884). He was deputy judge and then acting district stipendiary magistrate before establishing himself as a lawyer in 1875. In 1880 he became bailiff in Hadsel.

Political career

In 1877, Arctander was elected deputy Member of 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 ...

for the County of Nordland. From 1880 to 1884 he was a permanent member. He participated actively in the founding of the Liberal Party in 1882. Arctander was re-elected to Parliament for the period 1889-1891 and 1900-1906. He subsequently become mayor of

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 ...

1908-1920. He was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

1884–1885, Norwegian state secretary in Stockholm 1885–1886, Minister of the Interior 1886-1888, Norwegian Minister of Trade 1905–1907, acting

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

1905 and Minister of Trade 1907–1908 and 1910.

Personal life

In 1887, he was promoted to Commander with Star (Commander 1st Class) of the Order of St. Olav. Arctander also was appointed a Grand Cross of the

Order of 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 ...

(Denmark) and a Commander Grand Cross of the

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 ...

(Sweden). He was an honorary member and co-founder of the ''Nordlendingenes Forening'', an association of people who have emigrated from the counties in Northern Norway. In 1912 he was awarded the Petter Dass Medal (''Petter Dass-medaljen''). Arctander died in the Lifjell Mountains of

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

one day in August 1924, the exact date uncertain. He had been missing for some days when he was found dead. He was married in 1881 with Maren Sophie Aars (1849-1940), daughter of Jens Ludvig Aars (1808-1855) and Annette Lund (1818-1855). They were the parents of Signy Arctander.

References

Other sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arctander, Sofus Anton Birger 1845 births 1924 deaths University of Oslo alumni Government ministers of Norway Politicians from Kristiansand People from Vest-Agder Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway