Frederik Stang (4 March 1808 – 8 June 1884) was a Norwegian lawyer, public servant, and politician who served as

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

's 1st prime minister in Christiana. Stang was born on the Nordre Rostad farm at

Stokke Stokke is a town in Sandefjord municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It lies in-between Sandefjord and Tønsberg, two of Vestfold's largest cities. It was a municipality from 1838 to 2016. The administrative centre of the municipality was th ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

, Norway. He was the son of Lauritz Leganger Stang (1775–1836) and Johanne Margrethe Conradi (1780–1820). His father was a procurator and later a magistrate. At age 13, he entered the Bergen Cathedral School. Stang, known as Friederich until the 1830s, entered the study of law at the age of 16 and passed the bar exam in 1828. In 1830, he accepted a position as lecturer of law at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

. During this time, he published a seminal text on Norwegian constitutional law. He went over to private practice in 1834, where he distinguished himself as a trial attorney, especially in supreme court cases. In 1846, Stang became the most senior civil servant in the newly formed (and no longer existent) Domestic Ministry. He served in this position until 1856, and his tenure was characterized by tireless efforts to modernize Norway's economic infrastructure. In addition to improving the road network, harbors, canals, and lighthouses, he was in great measure responsible for Norway and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

's first railroad, from

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

. He also worked hard to elevate the importance and function of agriculture in Norway, initiating the formation of a university-level school of agriculture, commissioned travelling agrarians, and encouraged better breeding among Norwegian farm animals. In 1861, after a brief stint as mayor of Oslo, Stang was appointed to the Norwegian cabinet. His time as a political leader was characterized by considerable discord within the Norwegian parliament and between Norway and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

government. In 1865, Stang founded the

Norwegian Red Cross The Norwegian Red Cross (''Norges Røde Kors'') was founded on 22 September 1865 by prime minister Frederik Stang. In 1895 the Norwegian Red Cross began educating nurses, and in 1907 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence authorized the organization f ...

. In 1870, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Until 1873, the king of the

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more State (polity), states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some e ...

between

Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden ...

governed Norway through two cabinets: one in Stockholm and another, led by a viceroy in Kristiania, now

. After the viceroy position had been vacant for some time, the post of prime minister for Norway was instituted in 1873, and Stang was appointed. Although there was also a prime minister in Stockholm, the one in Norway had the most influence over state affairs. In spite of efforts to reconcile opposing political forces, his party was reduced to a minority position during his tenure. In a gesture of spite, the parliament cut his pension in half in 1881; the citizens of Oslo raised money to make up for the shortfall, and he donated this to a foundation to advance the study of law.

Personal life

He was married in 1833 with Augusta Julie Georgine von Munthe af Morgenstierne (1812-1885), the daughter of Magistrate Bredo von Munthe af Morgenstierne (1774-1835) and Cathrine Elisabeth Fries (1781-1840). They were the parents of Emil Stang (1834-1912). Frederik Stang's name is often misspelled as ''Fredrik'' Stang, which was the name of his grandson Fredrik Stang (1867-1941) who was a noted jurist. He was also the grandfather of Emil Stang (1882-1964) and Fredrik Stang Lund (1859-1922).

Honours and awards

Frederik Stang became a member of The Royal Norwegian Scientific Society in 1846, the ''Videnskabs-Selskabet'' in Christiania at its founding in 1857 and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. He was appointed Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; 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 ...

at its founding in 1847 and was awarded the Grand Cross in 1853. Four years later, he received the highest award in the country, ''Bürgerverdienstmedallie'' in gold. He was a Knight of the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim and had the Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

and held other foreign orders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stang, Frederik 1808 births 1884 deaths People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Prime Ministers of Norway Mayors of Oslo Academics of the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo Presidents of the Norwegian Red Cross 19th-century Norwegian lawyers 19th-century Norwegian politicians Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Frederik Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Attorneys general of Norway