Michel Nielsen Grendahl (12 March 1775 - 18 January 1849) was a Norwegian farmer, shipbuilder and politician. Grendahl was born at

Rennebu Rennebu may refer to: Places *Rennebu Municipality Rennebu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Orkdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of ...

in Søndre Trondhjem, Norway. His parents were Niels Mikkelsen Grindal (1739-1811) and Randi Mikkelsdatter Stavne (1745-1814). He grew up on the family farm (''Øvre Grindal i Rennebu'') in the parish of Rennebu. He traveled to Bergen where he first became interested in shipping. In 1806, he traveled to

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county. The admin ...

where he engaged in shipbuilding. His business did well but he was determined to return to farming. In 1821, he bought Havstein (''Havstein Gård på Byåsen''), a large farm in

Byåsen Byåsen is a large neighborhood area in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It constitutes a large part of the city in the borough of Midtbyen in Trondheim Municipality. It encompasses a number of areas southwest of the main cit ...

, just west of the city of

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 ...

. Influenced by the reform teachings of

Hans Nielsen Hauge Hans Nielsen Hauge (3 April 1771 – 29 March 1824) was a 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, spiritual leader, business entrepreneur, social reformer and author. He led a noted Pietism revival known as the Haugean movement. Hauge is al ...

, his farm became a spiritual center for the

Haugean The Haugean movement or Haugeanism () was a Pietistic state church reform movement intended to bring new life and vitality into the Church of Norway, which had been often characterized by formalism and lethargy. The movement emphasized personal ...

Movement (''haugianere''). Grendahl 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 ...

in 1830, 1833, 1836 and 1842, representing the rural constituency of '' Søndre Trondhjems Amt'' (today part of

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county).Michel Nielsen Grendahl
— Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD)

References

1770s births 1849 deaths People from Rennebu Sør-Trøndelag politicians Norwegian farmers Norwegian shipbuilders Members of the Storting 1842–1844 Members of the Storting 1836–1838 Members of the Storting 1833–1835 Members of the Storting 1830–1832 {{Norway-politician-1770s-stub