Guthorm Hallager (1864-1932) was a Norwegian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. He served as the County Governor of

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county from 1910 until 1932. He was the son of law professor and Supreme Court judge Georg Frederik Hallager. Hallager received his

cand.jur. 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 ...

degree in 1886. In 1888, he became deputy magistrate and later became the town clerk in

Kragerø Kragerø () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. Villages in Kragerø include H ...

. He was then employed in the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 1889. In 1894, he was named a royal plenipotentiary. From 1895 to 1898 he was Norwegian secretary in the third union committee. Hallager was appointed county governor for

county from 1910 to 1932 (the county was named Bratsberg from 1910 to 1918). He was a knight of the first class 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 ...

. Hallager became friends with

Alexander Kielland Alexander Lange Kielland (; 18 February 1849 – 6 April 1906) was a Norwegian realistic writer of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called " The Four Greats" of Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson an ...

after the town fire in

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

. They corresponded with each other from September 1904 to February 1906. Some of the letters between them were recorded in the book, ''Amtmanden og Expeditionschefen : brev fra Alexander L. Kielland til Guthorm Hallager''.

References

1864 births 1932 deaths County governors of Norway {{Norway-law-bio-stub