Ole Jørgensen Richter (23 May 1829 – 15 June 1888) was a Norwegian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, politician, parliamentarian and the prime minister of the Norwegian Government in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Early life and education

Son of Jørgen and Massi Richter, Ole was born and grew up on the farm Rostad in

Inderøy Inderøy is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages include Framverran, Gangstadhaugen, Hylla, Kjerknesvågen, Kjer ...

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

. The farm was one of the biggest in the community and had belonged to his mother's family for generations. His father belonged to the family Richter which originated in Saxony. His great-grandfather had come to Norway as a specialist in mining. He married a Norwegian farmer daughter and the family was subsequently involved in farming as well as other businesses. Jørgen Richter ran Rostad farm, had a small brickyard and did some fishing and boatbuilding. He was involved in local politics and had interest in national politics as well. Jørgen Richter Both parents were religious. Ole who was number four of eight children was educated at home. Aged 15, he moved in 1845 to an uncle in

Orkdal Orkdal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

who was a magistrate (Norwegian: ''sorenskriver'') He worked at the office and got some education. In 1846, he went to Christiania to take a preliminary exam at the University of Oslo. which was students who had not studied Greek or Latin. The preliminary exam gave the opportunity to take a lower degree in law which he did in 1847. Feeling that the lower degree would not provide him with adequate career opportunities, he chose the same year to accept an offer by an uncle in Denmark to come and live in order to study to an ordinary examen artium. After two years in Denmark, he passed the examen artium at the University of Oslo in 1849. He subsequently got a

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree at the University of Oslo

Political career and death

Richter was elected to the

Storting 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 Liberal Party where he became the first Prime Minister in Stockholm after

parliamentarianism Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...

was introduced, as part of

Cabinet Sverdrup Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in 1884. He was granted royal permission for a family graveyard on his farm Rostad, where he and his family are buried. He committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

in 16 June 1888 by shooting himself in his Prime Ministerial office in Stockholm.

References

Sources

* * Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway People from Inderøy Norwegian politicians who committed suicide 1828 births 1888 deaths Members of the Storting 19th-century Norwegian politicians 1880s suicides {{Norway-politician-1820s-stub