Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (politician) explained

Harald Ulrik Sverdrup
Office:Mayor of Balestrand
Term Start:1849
Term End:1879
Office2:Member of Parliament
Term Start2:1851
Term End2:1870
Office3:Member of Parliament
Term Start3:1874
Term End3:1878
Birth Date:18 February 1813
Birth Place:Jarlsberg manor in Vestfold
Death Date:23 April 1891
Nationality:Norwegian
Party:Independent
Relations:Johan Sverdrup (brother)
Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Jr. (grandson)
Children:Jakob Sverdrup,
Edvard Sverdrup,
Georg Sverdrup
Profession:Vicar, entrepreneur

Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (18 February 1813 – 23 April 1891) was a Norwegian priest and politician who was a member of Parliament and mayor of Balestrand.

Biography

He was born at Jarlsberg Manor in Vestfold. His brother Johan Sverdrup would found the Liberal Party and become Prime Minister of Norway in 1884.[1]

He graduated as cand.theol. in 1837, and worked as a senior technical officer (amanuensis) at the University Library of Oslo from 1837 to 1845. In 1845 he was appointed to a clerical position, that of chaplain in Leikanger. In 1849 the district of Balestrand was separated from Leikanger as an own parish, and Sverdrup became vicar (sogneprest) of the new parish.[1] He published several works, mostly based on Erik Pontoppidan's explanation of the Luther's Small Catechism.[2]

As his brother, Harald Ulrik Sverdrup became involved in politics. When Balestrand became a municipality of its own in 1849, Sverdrup became its first mayor. He sat as mayor until 1879. He was among the establishers of the local savings bank in 1847, and of the transport company Nordre Bergenhus Amts Dampskibe (later: Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane) with Jan Henrik Nitter Hansen and Michael Aubert in 1858.[1]

He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1851, representing the constituency of Nordre Bergenhus Amt. He was re-elected in 1854, 1857, 1859, 1862, 1865 and 1868.[3] In 1870 he lost the election due to disagreements with Søren Jaabæk and his supporters,[1] but Sverdrup later returned for a final term from 1874.[3] Harald Ulrik Sverdrup stepped down as a priest in 1883.[1]

When he stepped down, his son Jakob Sverdrup stood for election, and won.[1] He also became a government minister.[4]

A daughter of Harald Ulrik Sverdrup married the priest and Nynorsk proponent Eirik Olson Bruhjell. They had met while Sverdrup was the private tutor of Bruhjell.[5] Another of his sons, Edvard Sverdrup, became a professor of theology. One of Edvard's sons, Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Jr., went on to become a well-known oceanographer and meteorologist.[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_sogn_og_fjordane/fylkesleksikon/1570306.html Harald Ulrik Sverdrup
  2. Web site: List of publications in BIBSYS . 2008-08-24 . 2012-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120210092727/http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/result?cmd=&kilde=biblio&fid=forfatter&term=Sverdrup,+H.U.&op=and&fid=bd&term=&arstall=&sortering=sortdate&treffPrSide=50 . dead .
  3. http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/index.cfm?urlname=storting&lan=&MenuItem=N1_1&ChildItem=&State=collapse&UttakNr=33&person=12876 Harald Ulrik Sverdrup
  4. http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/index.cfm?urlname=storting&lan=&MenuItem=N1_1&ChildItem=&State=collapse&UttakNr=33&person=12879 Jakob Liv Rosted Sverdrup
  5. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_sogn_og_fjordane/fylkesleksikon/1921421.html Eirik Olson Bruhjell
  6. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_sogn_og_fjordane/fylkesleksikon/2449827.html Johan Edvard Sverdrup