Thomas Johannessen Heftye, also known as Tho Joh Heftye (29 October 1822 – 4 October 1886) was a Norwegian businessman, politician and philanthropist.

Personal life

He was born in Christiania as the son of merchant

Johannes Thomassen Heftye Johannes Thomassen Heftye (17 October 1792 – 2 November 1856) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. He was the son of merchant Thomas Johannessen Heftye (1767–1827), an immigrant from Switzerland who founded the family company Thos ...

(1792–1856) Tina Haslef (1798–1862). He was a nephew of

Henrik Heftye Henrik Thomassen Heftye (21 November 1804 – 18 February 1864) was a Norwegian businessman and philanthropist. Personal life He was born in Christiania as the son of merchant Thomas Johannessen Heftye (1767–1827) and his wife Katharina Tsch ...

. In October 1846 he married Marie Jacobine Meyer (1826–1895), a daughter of Jacob Peter Meyer and sister of

Thorvald Meyer Thorvald Meyer (23 September 1818 – 3 February 1909) was a Norway, Norwegian businessman and philanthropist. He was a wholesaler, retailer and shipowner as well as a land owner and developer. Biography Meyer was born in Oslo, Christiania (now ...

. Their son

Thomas Heftye Thomas Thomassen Heftye (10 April 1860 – 19 September 1921) was a Norwegian military officer, engineer, sports official and politician for the Liberal Party. He is best known as the Norwegian Minister of Defence from June to October 1903 and M ...

became a notable politician. Through his daughter Ingeborg Marie he was a father-in-law of

Frits Hansen Frits Hansen (31 January 1841 – 8 June 1911) was a Norwegian educator, newspaper editor, biographer and politician. Hansen was born at Larvik, in Vestfold, Norway. He was the son of Magistrate Frederik Christian Hansen (1799–1860) and Albi ...

and grandfather of Eilif Fougner.

Career

His grandfather migrated to Norway from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the late eighteenth century, and founded the family company Thos. Joh. Heftye & Søn. Heftye grew up at

Filipstad Filipstad is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Ch ...

. He took his secondary education at

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

and his higher education mainly in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. He entered the family company in 1848. Heftye was heavily involved in the organizational life of the time. He co-founded the

Norwegian Trekking Association The Norwegian Trekking Association (, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism in this country". Today the goa ...

in 1868. He owned the rural areas

Sarabråten Sarabråten is an area near the lake Nøklevann in Østmarka, Oslo, Norway. Now a recreational area, it was owned by Thomas Johannessen Heftye and his descendants from 1856 to 1911, and after that by Oslo municipality. It was first recorded und ...

Frognerseteren Frognerseteren is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway, located within Nordmarka. It is a popular starting point for recreational hiking and skiing in Oslo. Frognerseteren (station), Frognerseteren Station is the terminal station of the Holmenkollen Lin ...

and

Tryvannshøyden Tryvannshøyden or Tryvannshøgda (formerly Tryvasshøgda) is a hill in Oslo, Norway, peaking 530 metres above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in referenc ...

. Already in his lifetime these were opened as recreational areas; the two latter areas later became publicly owned. He was also a member of the board of

Akers Sparebank Akers may refer to: People *Akers (surname) Places In the United States: *Akers, Missouri, in Shannon County *Akers Pond in New Hampshire * Akers, Louisiana Other uses *Akers' clasp, for removable partial dentures See also *Aker (disambiguation ...

from 1873 to his death, and also of Norges Forsvarsforening,

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

, the

Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments () is an organization focused on conservation preservation in Norway. The Society was founded in 1844. The founders were painters, historians, art historians and archeologists, including ...

and Christiania Kunstforening. He was a known

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

, and financed the publication of the diaries of Claus Pavels. He also financed writers and artists such as

Aasmund Olavson Vinje Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (6 April 1818 – 30 July 1870) was a Norwegian poet and journalist who is remembered for poetry, travel writing, and his pioneering use of Landsmål (now known as Nynorsk). Background Vinje was born into a poor but w ...

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Ro ...

and

P. A. Munch Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnography, ...

. He was also involved in politics. He was a member of Christiania city council from 1855 to 1856 and 1879 to 1886, and of Aker

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

from 1869 to 1877. During the term 1880–1882 he served as a deputy representative 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 ...

. The reason why he changed from Aker to Christiania after 1877 was that

Frogner Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the East End and West End of Oslo, West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg, Norway, Urani ...

, where he lived, was incorporated into the city in 1878. His villa is now used as the

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

of the United Kingdom. Heftye was decorated as a Knight of the Swedish

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 ...

in 1860, the

Royal Norwegian 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 1864, 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 ...

in 1866 and the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1867. He was also a Commander of the Austrian

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph () was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes The order was originally awarded in three classes: ''G ...

from 1867 and of the Swedish

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

in 1877. He died in October 1886 in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

. A memorial stone was raised for him at

Midtstuen Midtstuen is an area in the borough Vestre Aker in Oslo, Norway. Originally a forested area in the former municipality Aker, it was later incorporated into Oslo. In the 1960s it was developed as a residential area. It is served by Midtstuen Stat ...

, and the road ' in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

has been named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heftye, Thomas J 1822 births 1886 deaths Norwegian bankers Norwegian philanthropists Politicians from Oslo Politicians from Aker Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian people of Swiss descent Knights of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Vasa Recipients of the Order of Franz Joseph Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog 19th-century Norwegian philanthropists