Evald Rygh (26 May 1842 – 9 May 1913) was a Norwegian banker and politician for the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Finance and Customs and mayor of Kristiania. He was born in

Verdal Municipality Verdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

, and was the brother of Karl Ditlev and Oluf Rygh. He was educated in law, holding a cand.jur. degree. Both his brothers were noted

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s, and Karl Ditlev was a conservative politician too. From 1880 to 1889 Evald Rygh served as

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

. On 13 July 1889, when the first cabinet Stang assumed office, Rygh was appointed Minister of Finance and Customs. He lost this post when the first cabinet Stang fell on 5 March 1891. Instead, he was elected to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 ...

in 1892 for the constituency of ''Kristiania, Hønefoss og Kongsvinger''. He only served one term,Evald Rygh
– Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) having also served as mayor of Kristiania from 1893 to 1894. Rygh reportedly turned down a request to return as a government minister when the second cabinet Stang was formed in 1893. In 1895 and 1896 he led the committee that negotiated a new '' Mellomrikslov'' between Norway and Sweden, as Sweden had annulled the existing laws in 1895. The negotiations were fruitless, as such contributing to the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 The dissolution of the union (; ; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; ) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension an ...

. Outside politics Rygh was the CEO of Christiania Sparebank from 1893. He was also the first

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the National Theatre. Together with Hans Hagerup Krag he worked to establish an outdoors area around

Holmenkollen Holmenkollen () is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to above sea level and is well known for its international skiing competitions. Etymology The name is a compound of the farm name and the ...

, Voksenkollen and

Frognerseteren Frognerseteren is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway, located within Nordmarka. It is a popular starting point for recreational hiking and skiing in Oslo. Frognerseteren (station), Frognerseteren Station is the terminal station of the Holmenkollen Lin ...

accessible to the city populace. Through the ''Holmen-Voksenkoll Society'', founded in 1888, they helped in the building of

Holmenkollen Chapel Holmenkollen Chapel (''Holmenkollen kapell'') is located in the neighborhood of Holmenkollen in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. The original chapel from 1903 was destroyed by arson in 1992. The new chapel was completed in 1996. Holmenk ...

and, together with the Association for the Promotion of Skiing, the establishment of the

Holmenkollen ski jump Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 70,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since ...

and Korketrekkeren, a

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

and

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

course. To commemorate this a bauta of Rygh was erected at Holmenkollen. The road ''Ryghs vei'' and the square ''Evald Ryghs plass'', both in Oslo, have been named after him. Rygh was also proclaimed a Commander, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1891.

Rygh died in 1913. He was buried at Cemetery of Our Saviour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rygh, Evald 1842 births 1913 deaths Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Ministers of finance of Norway Mayors of Oslo Norwegian bankers Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour People from Verdal Members of the Storting 1892–1894