Wilhelm Blakstad (2 February 1863 – 4 January 1936) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

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

He was born at Blakstad farm in

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greate ...

as a son of Erik Jørgensen Blakstad (1827–1890) and his wife Laura Gabrielsen (1832–1868). He was married to Gønner Kjos (1855–1932), and was the father of architect

Gudolf Blakstad Gudolf Blakstad (19 May 1893 – 22 November 1985) was a Norwegian architect. He was noted for his work in the transition between neo-classicism and functionalism in Norwegian architecture. Biography Blakstad was born in Gjerpen, Norway. He ...

. Wilhelm Blakstad was also a brother of Finn and

Ragnvald Blakstad Ragnvald Blakstad (20 May 1866 – 26 April 1929) was a Norwegian industrialist and hydropower pioneer. He is best known for developing hydropower in the Arendal watershed, and for the Tyssedal Hydroelectric Power Station and Aura Hydroelec ...

and a first cousin of Torger, Wilhelm and

Bernt Holtsmark Bernt Holtsmark (27 December 1859 – 20 April 1941) was a Norwegian farmer and politician for the Conservative Party and the Liberal Left Party. He was a four-term member of the Parliament of Norway, and served as Minister of Agriculture from 19 ...

Career

He took his education at Trondhjem Technical School from 1879 to 1881 and the Higher College of Agriculture at Aas from 1885 to 1886. After a strain of various jobs he worked as an engineer from 1886 to 1892, and then as a

log driving Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America. Histor ...

inspector in the

Skien Watershed The Skien watershed is the third largest watershed of Norway after those of the Glomma and the Drammen rivers. The catchment area is , and the maximum length is . The Skien watershed includes rivers which feed Lake Norsjø above Skien; * Vinje ...

from 1892 to 1898. From 1902 he was the director of log driving in Lower

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 ...

, based in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

(Fredrikstad Tømmerdirektion). He was elected to Fredrikstad city council in 1907, and served as mayor from 1910 to 1918. From 1916 to 1918 he was a deputy member of the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

, from 1918 to 1920 he was a board member of the Norwegian Association of Engineers, and from 1918 to 1921 he was a member of the supervisory committee of the

Østfold Line The Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and th ...

. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament for the first time in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

, and was re-elected on four occasions, his last term ending in 1933. He died in 1936. The road ''W. Blakstads gate'' in Fredrikstad has been named after him. A

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

of Blakstad, sculpted by Waldemar Sefsland Dahl, stands outside the old headquarters of Fredrikstad Tømmerdirektion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakstad, Wilhelm 1863 births 1936 deaths Asker politicians Politicians from Fredrikstad Mayors of places in Østfold Members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian engineers