Johannes Wilhelm Christian Steen (22 July 1827 – 1 April 1906) was a Norwegian statesman and educator who served as the

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway (, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet of Norway, Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government departme ...

from 1891 to 1893 and from 1898 to 1902.

Background

He was born in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway). He grew up in Vesteraalen as the son of John Svaboe Steen (1798– 1872), a judge and member of Parliament, and Christine Fleischer (1805–1851). His brother Frederik Steen was also a member of Parliament. He took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

at Tromsø in 1844. From 1844, he was a student at 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 ...

and received his cand.philol. in 1848. Over the next 42 years, Steen combined his profession as teacher and educationist with a political career. He served as a teacher in Bergen (1850–55) and

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

(1855–1866). He was mayor of Tromsø (1856–1862) and (1864–1866). From 1866 he was Rector of

Stavanger Cathedral School Stavanger Cathedral School (''Norwegian language, Norwegian: Stavanger katedralskole'') is an upper secondary school in the city of Stavanger, Rogaland county, Norway. It is spread over two areas; the traditional Kongsgård and the school's new b ...

Career

Steen was mayor of Stavanger (1872–1883) and (1885–1890). In 1859 he was first elected member of the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

for Tromsø. In 1868, Steen was elected to the Storting for Stavanger. From 1871, the Storting became increasingly marked by political debate and struggle between liberal and conservative forces. Steen first served as the President of the lower house (''Odelstinget'') 1871–1873 and 1877–1881. He served as Prime Minister of Norway for two terms. Steen first became Prime Minister from 6 March 1891 – 2 May 1893. In 1894, Steen was re-elected to the Storting from

Trondheim 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 ...

. Steen became Prime Minister again from 17 February 1898 – 21 April 1902. Steen's final administration was responsible for the , which limited the buying or leasing of state-owned land to fluent Norwegian speakers, barring the Saami people from the purchase of their traditional hunting and grazing grounds. In 1884 he was a co-founder of the

Norwegian Association for Women's Rights The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's rights, women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political reform, ...

.Indbydelse til at indtræde i Norsk Kvindesags-Forening stiftet den 28de Juni 1884
" ''

Bergens Tidende is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo. is owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norwegian owners held a mere 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end of 2015. History and profile Founded ...

'', 18 November 1884

Personal life

He was married in 1849 to Elise Henriette Stoltenberg (1826–1896). He was made a Knight in 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 ...

in 1887. He died in 1906 at

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour () is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemi ...

in Kristiania.

References