Anton Elias Smitt (7 May 1883 – 1970) was a Norwegian forester. He was born in

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 shipbuilder and works owner Georg Christian Smitt and Marie Cathrine Wolff. His father was a half-brother (different mother) of

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States Arts, entertainment, and media * Jonas Brothers, American pop rock band. ** ''Jonas'' (TV serie ...

Livius Livius may refer to: * Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus, a Roman senator opposing the autocracy of Augustus *''Livius'', a genus of spiders with the sole species '' Livius macrospinus'' *Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English a ...

and

Jakob Sverdrup Smitt Jacob Sverdrup Smitt (6 January 1835 – 6 June 1889) was a Norwegian bishop and politician. Career Smitt was born in Land (present-day Nordre Land Municipality), Norway. He was the son of the dean Anton Elias Smitt (1805–1875) and Livia Sv ...

. Smitt graduated from the

Norwegian College of Agriculture The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located in Akershus county and has around 7,700 students. History The institution was established in 1859 as the Higher Agricultural Coll ...

in 1909. He worked as the county forester of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

from 1914 to 1923, and at the research institution ''Vestlandets forstlige forsøksstasjon'' from 1923 to 1928. From 1 January 1928 to 31 December 1956 he served as its general director. As general director of the institute, Smitt was influential on the practice of large-scale forest planting in

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

Central Norway Central Norway (, ) is an informal, unclearly defined region of Norway. In its most limited usage, the term "Central Norway" may refer only to Trøndelag county; however, it may also be understood to include all or parts of the county of Møre og ...

and

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

. He travelled extensively abroad, to study methods and ways to plant forest in the somewhat rough climate in these parts of Norway. Among others he found the North American species ''

Picea sitchensis ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-l ...

'' to be suitable for Norway, during a study trip in 1916 and 1917. The

biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people o ...

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. It is part of the '' Great Norwegian Encyclopedia''. Origin The first print edition (NBL1) was issued between 1923 and 1983; it included 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. Kunnskapsforlaget to ...

'' referred to this forest planting as a "national task on the highest level". Anton Elias Smitt died in 1970. ''Vestlandets forstlige forsøksstasjon'' became a part of ''Skogforsk'' through a 1972 merger, which in turn became the

Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute () was a research institute based in Norway. Organizationally subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, it is autonomous in its research. It was established on 1 July 2006 through a ...

through a 2006 merger.

References

1883 births 1970 deaths Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Norwegian foresters Scientists from Bergen {{forestry-researcher-stub