Conrad Christian Parnemann Langaard (18 November 1823 - 11 August 1897) was a Norwegian businessman. He was the founder of the tobacco company, Conrad Langaard A/S.[1] [2]
Langaard was born at Lillesand in Aust-Agder, Norway as a son of sea captain Mads Christian Langaard (1774–1854) and Ellevine Ellefsen (1792–1874). He was a brother of Mads Langaard[3] Through him, he was an uncle of business executive Christian Langaard and a grand-uncle of art historian Johan Henrik Langaard (1899- 1988).[4] [5]
From March 1857 he was married to Henriette Bull (1829–1867), and from February 1869 he was married to Andrea Serene Jensen (1821–1894), a sister of Lutheran priest and dramatist Peter Andreas Jensen (1812-1867).[1] Through his son, factory owner Rasmus Agerup Langaard (1860–1908), he was a grandfather of tennis player Conrad Langaard.[6]
In 1841, he moved to Christiania (now Oslo) with his brother Mads Langaard, who later founded Frydenlunds Brewery A/S. He entered the tobacco industry in 1849, and founded the eponymous company Conrad Langaard A/S in 1854. Starting from a tobacco factory in Oslo, the company eventually became Norway's largest wholesale distributor of tobacco products. Langaard was also a ship-owner, and became one of the wealthiest persons in Norway.[7] Conrad Langaard died in 1897 and business management was then taken over by his only son Rasmus Langaard. The company he founded still exists asa division of Olav Thon Group.[8]
Olav Thon Group (Olav Thon Gruppen) is owned by the Olav Thon Foundation (Olav Thon Stiftelsen). Olav Thon Group operates primarily in the retail and hotel sectors. It hold a position in shopping centers located in Norway and Sweden as well as Thon Hotels which is one of Norway's leading hotel chains.[9] [10]