Gudbrand Gregersen de Saág (born Gudbrand Gregersen; ; 17 April 1824 – 24 December 1910) was a Norwegian-born Hungarian bridge engineer, architect and member of the

Hungarian nobility The Kingdom of Hungary held a Nobility, noble class of individuals, most of whom owned landed property, from the 11th century until the mid-20th century. Initially, a diverse body of people were described as noblemen, but from the lat ...

from 1884.

Biography

Gregersen was born on 17 April 1824 to farmer Nils Gregersen (1804–1868) and Anne Trulsdatter (1803–1838) in Modum,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. A young man and a crafter, Gregersen came to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Habsburg Empire in the 1850s, where he established a company within general contracting. After a few years, the company had become one of the leading in the Kingdom. Living in Szob, Gregersen was married with Aloyzia (Luise) Sümegh (1836–1906), a daughter of Josef Sümegh and Katharina Stitz. They had 19 children together, of whom seven died as infants. Gregersen designed the Elisabeth Bridge between the two parts of the city of Komárom,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(today between the cities of Komárom,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. He also designed and lead the carpenter works on the building of the Hungarian Parliament and the Museum of Fine Arts and on the former building of the National Theatre in

. In 1884, Gregersen with wife and (some) children were ennobled by Francis Joseph, Apostolic King of Hungary. They were also granted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

which, in the upper field, displays the Norwegian Lion. Gregersen died on 24 December 1910 in Szob,

, aged 86. He remained a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

all his life.

Literature

;Norwegian * Norwegian Biographical Encyclopædia
Gudbrand Gregersen Saági
* Drammens Tidende
Bondesønn ble nasjonalhelt
* Økonomisk Rapport
Portrettet: Adelig og følsom
* Sveaas, P.A.: ''Familien Gregersen og Gudbrand Gregersen, ungarsk adelsmann fra Modum'' ;Hungarian * Evangélikus Országos Múzeum
Gregersen, Gudbrand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saag, Gudbrand Gregersen de 1824 births 1910 deaths Hungarian nobility Hungarian people of Norwegian descent Hungarian engineers Norwegian engineers Bridge engineers People from Modum Hungarian architects Hungarian Lutherans 19th-century Lutherans

Biography

See also

Literature