Georg Prahl Harbitz (26 June 1802 – 22 November 1889) was a Norwegian priest and politician. He was a member of Parliament for multiple terms and served as

President of the Storting 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 ...

Background

He was born in Haus (now

Osterøy Osterøy is an List of islands of Norway, island Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses ...

) in

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

, Norway to innkeeper Nils Harbitz and his wife Elisabet Christine Ibsen. His father died when Georg was eight years old, and he was eventually sent to the wealthy family Prahl 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 ...

for upbringing. Here, he was inspired to undertake academic studies. He graduated as

cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

in 1825. He was assigned by the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

, the post as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

(''sogneprest'') at Askevold in Nordre Bergenhus Amt.

Career

He became involved in politics and when local government was introduced in Norway, Harbitz served as mayor of Askevold municipality from 1837 to 1839. 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 1836 and 1839, representing the constituency of ''Nordre Bergenhus Amt''. From the start he was known favour the farmers' interest, a political current which began making its mark in Parliament from 1830. He was conservative in Constitutional matters. He left Askevold in 1839, his wife having died the same year. He was assigned the position of vicar in

Slidre Slidre is the administrative centre of Vestre Slidre Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the Slidrefjorden in the Valdres district. The village is located along the European route E16 highway, about northwes ...

, in Christians Amt. While stationed here, he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1842 and 1845. In 1847 he applied for the position as garrison priest in Christiania; however, he discovered that he was not looked kindly upon there, and returned to Christians Amt. In the meantime, Slidre had been split into Øystre and

Vestre Slidre Vestre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Slidre. Other villages in Vestre Slidre include Lomen and Røn. ...

; Harbitz became vicar of Vestre Slidre. He was elected to Parliament two more times, in 1848 and 1851. During the 1848 term he was

, together with Halvor Olaus Christensen, Hans Riddervold and Carl Valentin Falsen. He then decided to leave Vestre Slidre for financial reasons. Reportedly, the wage was low and often delayed. Harbitz applied for the vicarship in Nøtterø, and began this tenure in 1852. Representing the constituency of ''Jarlsberg og Laurvigs Amt'', he was elected to Parliament in 1854, 1857, 1859, 1862, 1865 and 1868. He continued to serve as President of the Storting for each of these terms. In 1864 he was the sole holder of this position, and held the principal speeches commemorating the fiftieth anniversaries of the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

(on 17 May) and the

Union between Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway (; ), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign pol ...

(on 4 November). Having chosen to not stand for parliamentary re-election in 1870, he sought retirement from his vicarship in December 1878, and finally left the position when a replacement was found in April 1879. He was granted a 6,000 kr yearly pension. His successor was Johan Nordahl Brun, not to be confused with the poet of the same name. Georg Prahl Harbitz moved to Abbediengen in

Vestre Aker Vestre Aker (Western Aker) is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It has a population of 50,157 as of 2020. The previous Aker Municipality was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948. The borough of Vestre Aker was org ...

, where his son Gottfried Harbitz resided. He died in 1889 and was buried next to his wife in the churchyard of

Askvoll Church Askvoll Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Askvoll Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Askvoll. It is one of several churches for the Askvoll parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti ( ...

. He had been issued the Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; 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, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1864, as well as the Grand Cross of 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 ...

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

Personal life

Georg Prahl Harbitz was married to Maren Mariken Hof (1806–1839) from Aker. The couple had four daughters and four sons, the oldest was born in 1827 and the youngest was born just before Maren died in 1839. Georg Prahl Harbitz did not remarry. Their oldest son Johannes Winding Harbitz became a parliament member and government minister. Another son Georg Prahl Harbitz, Jr. became a vicar as well, and married the sister of politician

Walter Scott Dahl Walter Scott Dahl (21 February 1839 – 4 September 1906) was a Norwegian jurist and member of the Norwegian Parliament with the Liberal Party. Biography Dahl was born in Melhus Municipality in Søndre Trondhjem county, Norway. He was the son o ...

. Georg Prahl Harbitz had struggled with health problems, so did several of his children.

References