Thomas Johannessen Heftye, also known as Tho Joh Heftye (29 October 1822 – 4 October 1886) 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 ...

businessman, politician and philanthropist.

Personal life

He was born in Christiania as the son of merchant Johannes Thomassen Heftye (1792–1856) Tina Haslef (1798–1862). He was a nephew of Henrik Heftye. In October 1846 he married Marie Jacobine Meyer (1826–1895), a daughter of

Jacob Peter Meyer Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

and sister of

Thorvald Meyer Thorvald Meyer (23 September 1818 – 3 February 1909) was a Norwegian businessman and philanthropist. He was a wholesaler, retailer and shipowner as well as a land owner and developer. Biography Meyer was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norwa ...

. Their son

Thomas Heftye Thomas Thomassen Heftye (10 April 1860 – 19 September 1921) was a Norwegian military officer, engineer, sports official and politician for the Liberal Party. He is best known as the Norwegian Minister of Defence from June to October 1903 and Ma ...

became a notable politician. Through his daughter Ingeborg Marie he was a father-in-law of Frits Hansen and grandfather of Eilif Fougner.

Career

His grandfather migrated to Norway from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the late eighteenth century, and founded the family company Thos. Joh. Heftye & Søn. Heftye grew up at

Filipstad Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...

. He took his secondary education at

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. He entered the family company in 1848. Heftye was heavily involved in the organizational life of the time. He co-founded the

Norwegian Trekking Association The Norwegian Trekking Association ( no, Den norske turistforening, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism i ...

in 1868. He owned the rural areas

Sarabråten Sarabråten is an area near the lake Nøklevann in Østmarka, Oslo, Norway. Now a recreational area, it was owned by Thomas Johannessen Heftye and his descendants from 1856 to 1911, and after that by Oslo municipality. It was first recorded unde ...

Frognerseteren Frognerseteren is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway, located within Nordmarka. It is a popular starting point for recreational hiking and skiing in Oslo. Frognerseteren Station is the terminal station of the Holmenkollen Line of the Oslo Metro. Fro ...

and

Tryvannshøyden Tryvannshøyden, Tryvannshøgda or Tryvasshøgda is a hill in Oslo, Norway, peaking 529 metres above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference t ...

. Already in his lifetime these were opened as recreational areas; the two latter areas later became publicly owned. He was also a member of the board of

Akers Sparebank Akers may refer to: People * Akers (surname) Places In the United States: * Akers, Missouri, in Shannon County * Akers Pond in New Hampshire * Akers, Louisiana Other uses * Akers' clasp, for removable partial dentures See also * Aker (disambigu ...

from 1873 to his death, and also of Norges Forsvarsforening,

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

, the

Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments ( no, Fortidsminneforeningen) is an organization focused on conservation preservation in Norway. The Society was founded in 1844. The founders were painters, historians, art historians ...

and Christiania Kunstforening. He was a known

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, and financed the publication of the diaries of

Claus Pavels Claus Pavels (8 January 1769 – 16 February 1822) was a Norwegian priest and diarist. His diaries from 1812 to 1822 are an important source for cultural and biographical history. He was the Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin from 1817 until ...

. He also financed writers and artists such as

Aasmund Olavson Vinje Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (6 April 1818 – 30 July 1870) was a Norwegian poet and journalist who is remembered for poetry, travel writing, and his pioneering use of Landsmål (now known as Nynorsk). Background Vinje was born into a poor but ...

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

and

P. A. Munch Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnograph ...

. He was also involved in politics. He was a member of Christiania city council from 1855 to 1856 and 1879 to 1886, and of Aker

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

from 1869 to 1877. During the term 1880–1882 he served as a deputy representative to 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 ...

. The reason why he changed from Aker to Christiania after 1877 was that

Frogner Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg and Majorstuen. The borough is named af ...

, where he lived, was incorporated into the city in 1878. His villa is now used as the

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

of the United Kingdom. Heftye was decorated as a Knight of the Swedish

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 t ...

in 1860, the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

in 1864, the Danish

Order of the 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 a ...

in 1866 and the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1867. He was also a Commander of the Austrian

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

from 1867 and of the Swedish

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

in 1877. He died in October 1886 in

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 ...

. A memorial stone was raised for him at Midtstuen, and the road ''

Thomas Heftyes gate Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

'' in

Oslo 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 ...

has been named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heftye, Thomas J 1822 births 1886 deaths Norwegian bankers Norwegian philanthropists Politicians from Oslo Politicians from Aker Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian people of Swiss descent Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Vasa Recipients of the Order of Franz Joseph Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog 19th-century philanthropists