Nicolai Andresen (24 September 1781 – 18 November 1861) 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 ...

merchant, banker and member of Stortinget. He laid the foundation for Andresens Bank A/S, which after several mergers became Nordea Bank Norge. Andresen was born at

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

in southern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, Denmark. He was the son of Christian Andresen and Cecilie Cathrine Asmussen. Andresen had studied under a merchant in Flensburg, before immigrated to Christiania (now Oslo) in 1801. He first entered as a partner with merchant G. F. Hagemann until 1809, when he established his own trading and shipping business. Subsequently, Andresen also operated a factory which manufactured glazed tiles and cornice stones of baked clay. His interest in banking grew out of his trading company. Andresen also actively participated in the public life. In 1818, he met in the Norwegian Parliament as an alternate. In 1821, he was selected as an alternate and in 1824 he met as permanent representative of Christiania. He was again an alternate to Parliament in 1833, 1836 and 1839. He was a member of the city council in Christiania 1837–43. For its public efforts he was named Knight 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 ...

. Andresen and his wife Engel Johanne Christiane Reichborn (1790-1826) had eleven children. They were the parents of Nicolay August Andresen (1812–1894) who took over Andresens Bank and Johan Henrik Andresen (1815–1874) who took over the mercantile business.

References

1781 births 1861 deaths People from Tønder Municipality Norwegian merchants Norwegian bankers Norwegian company founders Norwegian industrialists Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Members of the Storting Recipients of the Order of Vasa 19th-century Norwegian businesspeople {{Norway-business-bio-stub