Finn Blakstad (15 January 1865 – 24 January 1941) 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 ...

farmer and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Personal life

He was born at Blakstad farm in

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken count ...

as a son of Erik Jørgensen Blakstad (1827–1890) and his wife Laura Gabrielsen (1832–1868). Finn Blakstad was also a brother of

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

and

Ragnvald Blakstad Ragnvald Blakstad (20 May 1866 – 26 April 1929) was a Norwegian industrialist and hydropower pioneer. He is best known for developing hydropower in the Arendal watershed, and for the Tyssedal Hydroelectric Power Station and Aura Hydroelec ...

, a first cousin of Torger,

and

Bernt Holtsmark Bernt Holtsmark (27 December 1859 – 20 April 1941) was a Norwegian farmer and politician for the Conservative Party and the Liberal Left Party. He was a four-term member of the Parliament of Norway, and served as Minister of Agriculture from ...

and an uncle of

Gudolf Blakstad Gudolf Blakstad (19 May 1893 – 22 November 1985) was a Norwegian architect. He was noted for his work in the transition between neo-classicism and functionalism in Norwegian architecture. Biography Blakstad was born in Gjerpen, Norway ...

. In 1890 he married Marie Johanne Fleischer (1863–1928), a daughter of Mancin Fleischer and Ulrikke Antoinette Alette Stoltenberg. They had the son Leiv Blakstad, a landowner and politician.

Career

He took his education at the Higher College of Agriculture at Aas from 1883 to 1884. After working at various farms between 1884 and 1890, he bought the farm Bråstad in

Øyestad Øyestad is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is now located in Agder county. At the time of its di ...

in 1890 and settled as a farmer there. He was a member of Øyestad

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

from 1895 to 1907, serving as mayor from 1901. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) 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 bas ...

from the constituency

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, a ...

and

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * J ...

. He first represented the Coalition Party, but as that party went defunct he joined the

. In 1911 he left Øyestad and settled in

Sørum Sørum was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Sørumsand. Sørum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ( ...

. Here, he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ** German geophysicist Alfred ...

and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

. Blakstad was a board member of the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

from 1922 to 1923 and a deputy board member from 1924 to 1933. He was a member of various public boards and committees, among others the Tax Law Commission of 1929 together with Johan Henrik Christiansen, Sverre Sivertsen,

Nils Hjelmtveit Nils Hjelmtveit (21 July 1892–30 October 1985) was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Labour Party. He was mayor of Stokken, MP from 1925 to 1930, Minister of Education and Church Affairs from 1935 to 1945 and County Governor o ...

, Gabriel Moseid and Johan Martin J. Strand. He was also a board member of Norges Brannkasse and the

Norwegian Forestry Society The Norwegian Forestry Society ( no, Det norske Skogselskap, often shortened to ''Skogselskapet'') is an interest organisation in Norway. It was established as ''Det norske Skogselskab'' in 1898, with Axel Heiberg as its first chairman. Its pu ...

. He

chaired The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

the latter organization from 1938 to 1939. He died in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakstad, Finn 1865 births 1941 deaths Asker politicians Politicians from Arendal Mayors of places in Aust-Agder Members of the Storting Coalition Party (Norway) politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian farmers Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people