Jacob Andreas Michelsen (17 August 1821 – 12 October 1902) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician, also known as the father of

Christian Michelsen Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857 – 29 June 1925), better known as Christian Michelsen, was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway and Norway's 9th prime minis ...

. He was the son of Tollach Michelsen, a manual labourer with roots in the

Egersund Egersund is a town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger. The town is situated along a strait which separates the mainland from t ...

district. Tollach's wife Madsi Magdalena Eide (died 1829) came from the same social background. In June 1855 he married Caroline Sophie Ernstine Kjerschow. Their son was the later Norwegian Prime Minister

. Christian Michelsen was named after Jacob's father-in-law, bishop

Peder Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Peder Christian Hersleb Kjerschow (29 June 1786 – 24 November 1866) was a Norwegian clergyman. Biography He was born at Rødøy in Nordland, Norway. He was the son of the Danish-born priest Rasmus Sundt Christensen Kjerschow (1739–1806) an ...

. Michelsen worked himself up from the modest social background. A businessman, he was awarded burghership in 1847. He was a grain trader, wine grocerer and

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

, stock exchange commissioner from 1870 to 1902 and bank director from 1870. He served as mayor of Bergen from 1865 to 1866 and 1876 to 1878. He was elected from his city to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

in 1868 and 1871.Jacob Andreas Michelsen
– Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) He died in 1902, three years before his son became Prime Minister.

References

1821 births 1902 deaths Members of the Storting Mayors of Bergen Norwegian businesspeople {{Norway-politician-1820s-stub