Christian August Selmer (16 November 1816 – 1 September 1889) was a Norwegian lawyer and a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. He served as a member of the Norwegian

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Minister of Defense and Minister of Justice. He was the

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway (, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet of Norway, Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government departme ...

in Christiana between 1880 and 1884.

Background

Selmer was born at Fredrikshald in

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

, Norway and grew up in

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...

. He was the son of Johan Christian Selmer (1783-1830) and Johanne Ditlevine Michea Vibe (1788-1879). Selmer studied law at the University of Christiania from 1837, achieved his legal degree in 1842. In 1842, he was magistrate in Sør-Hedmark. In 1848, he was appointed law clerk in the office of attorney P.A. Midelfart in Drammen. In 1850, he took over the firm and developed an extensive legal practice. He served as a stipendiary magistrate in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

from 1862 until 1874. In 1848 he married Anna Sylvia Leganger (1825–1896).

Career

Selmer served as deputy to Parliament for

from 1871 until 1873 and permanent representative from 1874 until 1876. In 1874 joined the cabinet of Prime Minister

Frederik Stang Frederik Stang (4 March 1808 – 8 June 1884) was a Norwegian lawyer, public servant, and politician who served as Norway's first List of Norwegian Prime Ministers, prime minister in Christiana. Stang was born on the Nordre Rostad farm at Stokk ...

. Following the surprising resignation of

as Prime Minister in September 1880, King

Oscar II of Sweden Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of Oscar I of Sweden, King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen J ...

had Selmer in mind as Norwegian Prime Minister. Selmer's record as Prime Minister was characterized by conflict over whether members of the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

were required to appear in Parliament to answer questions. He influenced King Oscar II to reject efforts at a compromise, setting the stage for impeachment proceedings. In April 1883 the members of the lower house (''Odelsting'') decided to impeach the members of the Selmer cabinet. Selmer was subsequently

convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

under

articles of impeachment An article of impeachment is a documented statement which specifies the charges to be tried in an impeachment trial as a basis for removing an officeholder. Articles of impeachment are an aspect of impeachment processes of many governments that ut ...

and resigned as Prime Minister on March 1, 1884. Subsequently, Selmer became acting General Auditor (''Generalauditør'') of the

Royal Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

and

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

, He held this office until his death at

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...

in Aker during September 1889. He was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour () is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemi ...

in Kristiania.

References

External links

Biography at the Norwegian National Government website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selmer, Christian August 1816 births 1889 deaths Politicians from Halden University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian lawyers Prime ministers of Norway Government ministers of Norway Presidents of the Norwegian Red Cross Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Ministers of justice of Norway Ministers of defence of Norway Members of the Storting 1874–1876 Members of the Storting 1871–1873 Impeached Norwegian officials removed from office