Tollef Hansen Kilde (17 July 1853 – 2 January 1947) was a Norwegian forest owner, business founder and politician. He was born in

Åmot Åmot is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rena. Other villages in the municipality include Åsta, Osneset, an ...

as a son of forest owner Hans Tollefsen Kilde (1822–1882) and Oline Grini (1827–1871). He attended Sagatun Folk High School, the

Norwegian College of Agriculture The Norwegian University of Life Sciences ( no, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located at Ås in Viken, near Oslo, and at Adamstuen in Oslo and has around 5,200 stude ...

and the Forestry Academy in

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, 9 miles southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta ...

. In 1878 he took over the family farm, Kilde. It fell out of use in 1927 because of economic problems, but was inherited by his son in 1938. He was married twice; first from 1880 to Pauline Iversdatter Arnestad (1858–1917), but the marriage was dissolved; then from November 1903 to Hanna Fredrikke Hansdatter Arnestad (1877–1955). Kilde was an active politician. Locally he was a member of Åmot municipal council from 1881 to 1925, serving as mayor from 1890 to 1893 and 1905 to 1910. 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 a deputy representative 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 ...

during the term 1891–1894. In the 1909 election he was fielded as the Liberal candidate in the single-member constituency Søndre Østerdalen, but ended a distant fourth behind the Labour Democrat,

Liberal Left The Liberal Left (''Sinistra Liberale'', SL) was a minor liberal faction within the Democrats of the Left, an Italian political party. It was formed basically by former left-wingers of the Italian Liberal Party. Its leaders include Gianfranco Pas ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

candidates. He later joined the Liberal Left Party, and in the 1921 election he was a minor ballot candidate for the

Norwegian Agrarian Association The Norwegian Agrarian Association ( no, Norges Bondelag) is the largest Norwegian interest organization for farmers. It functions both as a labour union and as a trade union. It negotiates with the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union and ...

, which had now entered politics (from 1922 as the Agrarian Party). Kilde had chaired Hedemark Agrarian Association, and served as deputy chairman of the Norwegian Agrarian Association, already from 1905 to 1907. He was a central board member from 1904 to 1908 and 1913 to 1934. Kilde's main endeavor was to develop Østerdalen in general, and Rena in particular. He was a financial, political and administrative contributor to the foundations of Osfallet Power Plant, Rena Kartonfabrik and Rena Træsliperi to continue local hydroelectricity and refinery of the region's rich forest resources; two bridges over the local rivers

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

and Rena (1890); and the inclusion of a

Rena Station Rena Station ( no, Rena stasjon) is a railway station located in Rena, Norway on the Røros Line. It is located from Oslo Central Station at above mean sea level. Services are provided by SJ Norge to Røros and Hamar Hamar is a town in Ham ...

in the Norwegian railway network. He also contributed to the foundation of the school in Rena, which is now a campus of

Hedmark University College Hedmark University of Applied Sciences ( no, Høgskolen i Hedmark) was a state university college in Hedmark, Norway, established in 1994. It had four campuses, located in Hamar, Elverum, Åmot ( Rena) and Stor-Elvdal Stor-Elvdal is a municipal ...

, the

fire insurance Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, or bo ...

company Aamot Brandkasse and the local

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

. A failed endeavor, however, was the construction of a

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

in Glomma, all the way from Nedre Glomma to Storsjøen. Østerdalen would be "the furute Canada", wrote Kilde, if the plan were to come to reality. A separate Trysil Line on the railway network was never materialized either. Kilde was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1897, received the Medal for Outstanding Civic Service in silver in 1933 and the Norwegian Agrarian Association honorary medal. The main street in Rena is named after him, and a bauta has also been erected in the town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilde, Tollef 1853 births 1947 deaths People from Åmot Norwegian farmers Deputy members of the Storting Hedmark politicians Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Centre Party (Norway) politicians