Ingolf Elster Christensen (28 March 1872 – 3 May 1943) was a Norwegian jurist, military officer, county governor, and Member of Parliament from the Conservative Party.

Biography

Christensen was born at

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the southernmost parts of Brem ...

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

, Norway. He was the son of Michael Sundt Tuchsen Christensen (1827–1895) and Frederikke Sophie Elster (1838–1927). He was a brother of author and critic Hjalmar Christensen. Christensen graduated from Bergen Cathedral School in 1889 and then went to the

Norwegian Military Academy The Norwegian Military Academy (), in Oslo, educates officers of the Norwegian Army and serves as the King's Royal Guard. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway. History The Commander- ...

, where he graduated as an officer in 1893. He was appointed governor of the County of Nordre Bergenhus in 1910 and held the position until 1929 (in 1919 the county was renamed

). He was subsequently county governor of

Oslo 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 ...

and

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

from 1929 to 1941. He was

Minister 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 1926,

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

(1926–1928), Member of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(1922–1924, 1925–1927) and was a member of the Executive Board of the Conservative Party. After the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, he was elected Chairman of the new

Administrative Council Administrative Council () was a part of Council of State (Kingdom of Poland), Council of State of the Congress Poland. Introduced by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815, it was composed of 5 ministers, special nominees of the Tsar, Ki ...

that was put up by the Norwegian Supreme Court and functioned from April to September 1940. The council held negotiations with the Germans and Christensen was regarded by the Germans as a possible leader of a suggested

Riksråd Riksrådet (in Norwegian and Swedish) or Rigsrådet (in Danish or English: the Council of the Realm and the Council of the State – sometimes translated as the "Privy Council") is the name of the councils of the Scandinavian countries that ...

that should govern Norway.Ingolf Elster Christensen

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

, retrieved January 22, 2013 The negotiations however failed and came to an end in September 1940. He then returned to his office as county governor until 1941 when he was replaced by a member of

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

. After that he withdrew to his family farm and did not play a political role any longer.

References

1872 births 1943 deaths People from Førde People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Norwegian jurists Norwegian Army personnel Ministers of justice of Norway Ministers of defence of Norway Members of the Storting 1922–1924 Members of the Storting 1925–1927 {{Norway-politician-1870s-stub