Johan Throne Holst (7 February 1868 – 13 February 1946), was a Norwegian industrialist and politician for the Liberal Left Party (''Frisinnede Venstre''). He was the founder of Marabou and CEO of Freia, now owned and operated by

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Biography

Throne Holst was born in Trondheim, Norway. He was the son of Johan Martinus Brodtkorb Holst (1829–1913) and Josefa Gørvell (1835–1913). Throne Holst graduated from Trondheim Cathedral School and attended a trade school in

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(1887–88). He started his business career as a salesman in his father's merchant business in Trondheim. In 1892, Holst bought a recently started chocolate factory in Oslo. Holst built up Freia (''Freia Chocolade Fabrik'') to be Norway's leading chocolate manufacturer, and a modern workplace, with canteens and its own park for workers, Freiaparken in Oslo. The company was also the first in Norway with its own health care policy, and the first with a 48-hour working week. His son, Harald Throne-Holst was managing director of the Freia chocolate factory from 1948 to 1970 and later CEO. In 1916, Throne Holst established chocolate production at Sundbyberg, Sweden under the brand name Marabou with his son Henning Throne-Holst (1895–1980) as CEO and director. The brand Marabou was created as the brand name Freia already existed in Sweden. Actual production did not start until 1919 due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by

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. He served in the Oslo city council (1904–10) and 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 ...

(1909–12) as a representative of the Oslo neighborhood of Hammersborg. In 1923, Throne Holst was appointed chairman of

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. Holst distanced himself from

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...

by the beginning of the 1930s. In 1941, Holst was in the minority in the Federation of Norwegian Industries who protested against the increased trade that would be introduced during Nazi German occupation.

Personal life

In 1894, he married Hanna Richter Jenssen (1873–1952), daughter of Hans Peter Jenssen (1848–1902) and Signe Klingenberg (1852–1925). They were the parents of business executives Henning Throne-Holst (1895–1980) and Harald Throne-Holst (1905–96). Johan Throne Holst died during 1946 and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo. His family retained control over both Marabou and Freia until 1992.

Selected works

* ''Industri og industrielle problemer : belyst ved erfaringer fra A/S Freia Chocolade Fabrik'' (Kristiania: Aschehoug. 1914) * ''Erindringer og refleksjoner. '' (Oslo: Gyldendal. 1941)

References

Other sources

*Rudeng, Erik (1989) ''Sjokoladekongen : Johan Throne Holst – en biografi'' (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget( .

External links

Freia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holst, Johan Throne 1868 births 1946 deaths Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Businesspeople from Trondheim Free-minded Liberal Party politicians Members of the Storting 1910–1912 Norwegian anti-communists Norwegian company founders Norwegian industrialists Norwegian food industry businesspeople Norwegian people of World War II People educated at the Trondheim Cathedral School Politicians from Trondheim