Andreas Bredal Wessel (7 May 1858 – 7 April 1940) was a Norwegian physician and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

as a son of engineer Peter Mathias Wessel (1821–1890) and Mathilde Cecilie Ross (1829–1902). He grew up in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, where he took the

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1877. He enrolled in medicine studies at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

, whence he graduated with the cand.med. degree in 1885. In March 1886 in

Dovre Municipality Dovre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dovre. Other villages in Dovre include Dombås and Hjerkinn. The ...

he married his first cousin Ellisif Müller (1866–1949). The newly married couple moved to the town of

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

, where Wessel had been hired as district physician of

Sør-Varanger Municipality Sør-Varanger (; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kirkenes. Other settlements in the municipality include the vill ...

. They had seven children, but all died young. Wessel served as deputy mayor of

from 1892 to 1898, and deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...

for the constituency Finmarkens Amt during the term 1895–1897. He represented the Conservative Party. When mining commenced in Sør-Varanger, the conservative Wessel became more aware of poverty and its detrimental medical effects, and aligned with the Labour Party. He was elected mayor and served from 1905 to 1910, and in the

1906 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway between 5 and 27 August 1906, with a second round held between 26 August and 22 October.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 It was the first parliament ...

he was elected deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway again, this time from the constituency ''Øst-Finmarken'' as a running mate of

Isak Saba Isak Mikal Saba (15 November 1875 – 1 June 1921) was a Norwegian Sami people, Sámi teacher and politician. He was born in 1875 in Nesseby Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway to Per Sabasen and Bigi Henriksdatter Aikio. Saba married Marie ...

. His wife was also an important political activist in the region. From 1918 to 1927 he served as county physician of Finnmark. He was also an amateur anthropologist, ornithologist and local historian. In 1930 he was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

. He died in Kirkenes in April 1940, two days before the German invasion of Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessel, Andreas 1858 births 1940 deaths Amateur anthropologists People from Fredrikstad University of Oslo alumni Norwegian municipal physicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Finnmark Deputy members of the Storting