Jon Sundby (born 8 June 1883 in

Vestby Vestby is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestby. General information Name The municipality (originally the parish) is nam ...

, died 14 December 1972 in Vestby) was a Norwegian farmer, politician and a council of state, and he had central positions of trust within agricultural economic organizations. He served as Minister of Agriculture and food from 1931-1932 and Minister of Finance from 1932-1933.

Personal life

Sundby was born and grew up at Sundby farmyard in

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 ...

, as the youngest child out of six. His father, Julius James Sundby (1837–1911) was a farmer and a political spokesman for

Høyre The Conservative Party or The Right (, , , H; ) is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part of the Solberg cabinet from 2013 to 2021. ...

, the conservatives, in Vestby, married to Othilie Strand (1841–1909). Jon Sundby married Bertha Marie Mørk on 29 April 1915. Jon Sundby was the great-grandfather of the

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

Siren Sundby Siren Sundby (born 2 December 1982 in Lørenskog) is a former Norwegian sailor. She won an Olympic gold medal in the Europe-class in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also won the world championships in the Europe-class in 2003 and 2004. Sundby w ...

Education

Sundby graduated state school in 1900, where he continued his education at Sem landbruksskole in

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

where he graduated in 1903. After graduating Norges landbrukshøgskole (Norwegian School of Agriculture) in 1905, and in 1908 he got a scholarship for Illinois College of Agriculture in United States.

Career

Early career

Sundby worked as a teacher and for a while he was working as an elected officer at Sem during the period from 1906-12. From 1912 to 1960 he was a farmer at Sundby farmyard in Vestby.

Politician

Sundby was a board member of the Party of Agriculture from 1928 to 1945, and represented the party in Vestby for two periods. He was a member of the parliament from 1922 to 1945. During the governance of the Party of Agriculture, Sundby was a Norwegian Minister of Agriculture, 1931–1932, as well as head of the Ministry of Finance in 1932 under

Jens Hundseid Jens Valentinsen Hundseid (6 May 1883 – 2 April 1965) was a Norwegian politician from the Agrarian Party. He was a member of the Norwegian parliament from 1924 to 1940 and the prime minister of Norway from 1932 to 1933. Hundseid felt forced ...

, then Minister of Finance 1932-1933. He was initially unwilling to become a council of the state, but gave in due to an ultimatum from

Peder Kolstad Peder Ludvik Kolstad (28 November 1878 – 5 March 1932) was a Norwegian politician from the Agrarian Party. He was the prime minister of Norway from 1931 until his death in 1932. Early life and education Born to a farmer's family in Borge, ...

when he was the Minister of Agriculture in 1931. Sundby was pivotal in developing the Norwegian subsidy schemes of agriculture.

Public engagements

In parallel to his political career Sundby had central positions of trust in the organizations of agriculture. He was the chief officer for ''Østlandets Melkesentral'' 1930-57, where he became an honorary member in 1958. He was also in trusted positions in ''Norske Melkeprodusenters Landsforbund'' and ''Meieribrukets Sentralstyre'', as well as being the chairman of Felleskontoret for the central federation of agriculture 1945-57. Sundby was at the board of directors of the

Norges Bank Norges Bank (, , ) is the central bank of Norway. It is responsible for managing the Government Pension Fund of Norway, which is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, as well as the bank's own foreign exchange reserves. History The histor ...

from 1938 to 1944, and continued for some more years after the war. In the period from 1909-21 he undertook several visits to Western-Europe as a consultant for

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

. Sundby was a clever academic- and political writer, and he was the author behind many books questioning and discussing agricultural concerns. He also wrote several articles within academic- and the daily press, especially as a member of staff in

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Th ...

and

Nationen is a Norwegian daily newspaper with a particular focus on agriculture and rural districts. Its circulation in 2015 was 12,954, an increase of 281 copies from 2014. History and profile was founded in 1918. The founding editor-in-chief was Th ...

Bibliography

* 1919 ''En liten haandbok i kunstgjødselbruk. Med gjødslingplaner og skemaer for notate''r * 1933 ''Bondepartiet, Bonderegjeringen og finansene'' * 1959 ''Landbrukets økonomiske organisasjoner. Bakgrunn og motiver for deres utvikling og virksomhet. Litt historikk, med hovevekten på melkeorganisasjonene'' * 1967 ''Litt biografi og litt historikk, særlig om Bondepartiets og bonderegjeringens landspolitikk, samt om tilblivelsen av melkesentralordningen''

Jon Sundbys medal of honor

Jon Sundbys medal of honor is awarded every second year to a person who has conducted achievements within dairy or agriculture more over. The medal of honor was first awarded in 1956. It is financed by the proceeds from Jon Sundbys fund. Among winners to be mentioned are professor Roger K. Abrahamsen (2005), farmer

Kåre Syrstad Kåre Syrstad (12 April 1939 – 3 February 2013) was a Norwegian agrarian leader. He was a board member of Sør-Trøndelag Agrarian Association from 1975, and advanced to chairman from 1979 to 1984. He was also a deputy board member of the Norwe ...

(1999), professor

Berge Furre Berge Ragnar Furre (13 April 193711 January 2016) was a Norwegian historian, theologian and politician for the Socialist Left Party. Early life and career Furre was born in Sjernarøy in 1937, the son of engineer Berge Bergesen Furre (1887– ...

(1997), the general secretary

Hans Haga Hans Haga (8 December 1924 – 22 June 2008) was a Norway, Norwegian agrarian leader. He spent most of his career in the Norwegian Agrarian Association. He was first hired as a secretary for the county chapter in Oppland in 1952, and became press ...

(1991), the Norwegian 4H (1983) and professor Harald Skjervold (1970).

External links

NSD, Biography 1905-1945

Store Norske Leksikon, 2010
Lønnsomhetslinjen
innlegg i Stortinget 30. juni 1933 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundby, Jon Centre Party (Norway) politicians Ministers of agriculture and food of Norway 1883 births 1972 deaths People from Vestby Ministers of finance of Norway Members of the Storting 1922–1924 Members of the Storting 1925–1927 Members of the Storting 1928–1930 Members of the Storting 1931–1933 Members of the Storting 1934–1936 Members of the Storting 1936–1945