Johan Collett Falsen (9 September 1817 – 2 September 1879) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. John Collett Falsen born in the town of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

in Nedenes amt in southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He was the son of Hagbart Falsen and wife Aletta Fleischer. He was the grandson of Enevold de Falsen (1755–1808) as well as being the nephew of admiral Jørgen Conrad de Falsen (1785–1849), statesman

Christian Magnus Falsen Christian Magnus Falsen (14 September 1782 – 13 January 1830) was a Norwegian constitutional father, statesman, jurist, and historian. He was an important member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly and was one of the writers of the Consti ...

(1782–1830) and county governor Carl Valentin de Falsen (1787–1852). Falsen attended

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School (Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Loc ...

(1828). He graduated as

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. ...

from the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1841. He worked as an attorney (''prokurator'') in

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the southern part of Arendal, just north of the municipal border with Grimstad. The Norwegian County Road 420 runs through the village heading north ...

from 1846, and then in

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. In 1849 he moved to

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

to work as an attorney there. He became involved in politics, serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Drammen from 1853 to 1859 and in 1861.Johan Collett Falsen
at the Sogn og Fjordane County Encyclopedia (

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

) He was first elected 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 ...

in 1859, representing the urban constituency of Drammen.Johan Collett Falsen
—

Norwegian Social Science Data Services The Norwegian Centre for Research Data ( no, Norsk senter for forskningsdata) (NSD) is a Norwegian government-owned company responsible for managing data for the research community of Norway. Until 1 March 2016 it was known as Norwegian Social Scie ...

(NSD) In 1861 he was appointed County Governors of ''Nordre Bergenhus amt'' (now Sogn og Fjordane).Norwegian Counties
— World Statesmen.org He first resided at

Lærdalsøyri Lærdalsøyri is the administrative centre of Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Lærdalselvi river where it empties into the Lærdalsfjorden, a branch off of the main Sognefjorden. The village is l ...

, but bought a farm in

Leikanger Leikanger () is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Hermansverk, which also was the ...

in 1862. He thus became the first County Governor to live in Leikanger, where the county administration is located today. While stationed here, he was elected to Parliament for two more terms; in 1865 and 1868. He left the County Governor position in 1869 to pursue a career in national politics. In February 1870 Falsen was appointed

Minister of Justice and the Police In Norway, the Minister of Justice and Public Security is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. The current Justice Minister is Emilie Enger Mehl. Until 1 January 2012 the post w ...

. His tenure ended on 29 June the same year; two days later he was appointed to the Council of State Division 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 ...

. On 1 August 1871 he was reassigned again, this time as Minister of the Navy and Postal Affairs. Only two months later, on 1 October, he was appointed Minister of Justice again. He held this post until 1 September 1872, when he was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. He held this position for exactly one year; then he returned to the Council of State Division in Stockholm. Exactly one year after that, he was appointed to his third period as Minister of Justice. He held this post until his death in September 1879, except for a period between 1 August 1877 and 1 August 1878, when he was assigned to the Council of State Division in Stockholm. Falsen was appointed a Commander of the Order of St. Olav, a Grand Cross of the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 the ...

and a Grand Cross of the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falsen, Johan Collett 1817 births 1879 deaths People from Aust-Agder People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School University of Oslo alumni Government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting County governors of Norway Mayors of places in Buskerud Politicians from Drammen Sogn og Fjordane politicians Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Ministers of Justice of Norway