Johan Collett Falsen (9 September 1817 – 2 September 1879) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. John Collett Falsen born in the town of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the Grimstad (to ...

in Nedenes amt in southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He was the son of Hagbart Falsen and wife Aletta Fleischer. He was the grandson of Enevold de Falsen (1755–1808) as well as being the nephew of admiral Jørgen Conrad de Falsen (1785–1849), statesman

Christian Magnus Falsen Christian Magnus Falsen (14 September 1782 – 13 January 1830) was a Norwegian statesman, jurist and historian. He was a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly and was one of the writers of the constitution of Norway. Falsen has been name ...

(1782–1830) and county governor Carl Valentin de Falsen (1787–1852). Falsen attended

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School ( Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. L ...

(1828). He graduated as

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 ...

from the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

in 1841. He worked as an attorney (''prokurator'') in

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the southern part of Arendal, just north of the municipal border with Grimstad. The Norwegian County Road 420 runs through the village heading north ...

from 1846, and then in

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is t ...

. In 1849 he moved to

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

to work as an attorney there. He became involved in politics, serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Drammen from 1853 to 1859 and in 1861.Johan Collett Falsen
at the Sogn og Fjordane County Encyclopedia (

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

) He was first 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 1859, representing the urban constituency of Drammen.Johan Collett Falsen
—

Norwegian Social Science Data Services The Norwegian Centre for Research Data () (NSD) was a Norwegian institution established to manage data for the research community of Norway. Until 1 March 2016 it was known as Norwegian Social Science Data Services. In 2022, the organization was mer ...

(NSD) In 1861 he was appointed County Governors of ''Nordre Bergenhus amt'' (now Sogn og Fjordane).Norwegian Counties
— World Statesmen.org He first resided at

Lærdalsøyri Lærdalsøyri is the administrative centre of Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Lærdalselvi river where it empties into the Lærdalsfjorden, a branch off of the main Sognefjorden. The village is lo ...

, but bought a farm in

Leikanger Leikanger () is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Hermansverk, which also was th ...

in 1862. He thus became the first County Governor to live in Leikanger, where the county administration is located today. While stationed here, he was elected to Parliament for two more terms; in 1865 and 1868. He left the County Governor position in 1869 to pursue a career in national politics. In February 1870 Falsen was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police. His tenure ended on 29 June the same year; two days later he was appointed to the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. On 1 August 1871 he was reassigned again, this time as Minister of the Navy and Postal Affairs. Only two months later, on 1 October, he was appointed Minister of Justice again. He held this post until 1 September 1872, when he was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. He held this position for exactly one year; then he returned to the Council of State Division in Stockholm. Exactly one year after that, he was appointed to his third period as Minister of Justice. He held this post until his death in September 1879, except for a period between 1 August 1877 and 1 August 1878, when he was assigned to the Council of State Division in Stockholm. Falsen was appointed a Commander 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 ...

, a 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 ...

and a Grand Cross of the Danish

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falsen, Johan Collett 1817 births 1879 deaths People from Aust-Agder People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School University of Oslo alumni Government ministers of Norway County governors of Norway Mayors of places in Buskerud Politicians from Drammen Sogn og Fjordane politicians Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Ministers of justice of Norway Members of the Storting 1868–1870 Members of the Storting 1865–1867 Members of the Storting 1859–1861 Members of the Storting 1854–1856