Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (7 December 1778 – 10 October 1849) was a Norwegian attorney. He was a member of the National Assembly at

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

in 1814 and served as the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

secretary.

Background

Born in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

, Wilhelm F. K. Christie spent several childhood years in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. He was the son of postmaster Johan Koren Christie (1745–1823) and Anne Thue Brodtkorb (1753–1834). His family can be traced back to Andrew Davidson Christie (ca. 1620-1694), born in

Montrose, Scotland Montrose ( , gd, Monadh Rois) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Situated north of Dundee and south of Aberdeen, Montrose lies between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers. It is the northernmost coastal town in Ang ...

, who became a citizen of Bergen in 1654. At 10 years old, he was sent to attend Bergen Cathedral School. At 16 years old, he was a student 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 ...

. In 1799, he became candidat juridicum.

Career

Statue of Wilhelm F. K. Christie at Bergen Museum Wilhelm F. K. Christie was executive officer (''kansellisekretær'') and manager of a government office in Copenhagen. In 1809, at 30 years old, he became a judge (''sorenskriver'') in

Søndre Bergenhus Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipali ...

county. From 1815 to 1825, he was County Governor of Søndre Bergenhus amt and County Governor of Bergenhus stiftamt. In 1814, he was a representative for Bergen at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly. He was chosen as the secretary during the whole period. Hence he did not play a very important role in the debates. Then he participated with sending a message to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from

Christian Frederik Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederic ...

in order to win assistance for Norway's independence. However, this message was never answered. In October, he became the president of the parliament and made an important contribution to the process of discussion of the union with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He stayed a representative in 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 ...

(''Stortinget'') until 1825.

Later years

From 1828 until his death, he was a customs inspector in Bergen. He was also a member of Bergen city council from 1837 to 1841, and participated with the founding of Bergen Savings Bank, of which he was chairman for several years.

Legacy

Christie's private archive in the National Archives contains six packages of correspondence and notes. His statue now stands in front of the

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen ( no, Universitetsmuseet i Bergen) is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The Univ ...

, which he founded in 1825 and where he worked for more than 20 years. A statue of him by Norwegian sculptor

Kristian Blystad Kristian Blystad (born 18 March 1946) is a Norwegian sculptor. Career He was born in Bergen. Among his works is the fountain sculpture ''Kronos'' at Majorstuen, Oslo. A granite sculpture of Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie was erected in front of t ...

was erected in 1989 in front of the Stortinget on the occasion of the Constitution's 175-year anniversary.''Kristian Blystad'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Wilhelm Frimann Koren 1778 births 1849 deaths Politicians from Bergen Presidents of the Storting People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School University of Copenhagen alumni 19th-century Norwegian judges Fathers of the Constitution of Norway County governors of Norway Norwegian people of Scottish descent