Wilhelm Christopher Christophersen (15 December 1832 – 26 July 1913) was a Norwegian diplomat, noted for his contributions in facilitating the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 The dissolution of the union (; ; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; ) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension an ...

and later his service as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Biography

Wilhelm Christophersen was born at Brevik in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

, Norway. The son of a customs official in the town, he was a brother of Christian Christophersen and

Peter Christophersen Peter "Don Pedro" Christophersen (May 28, 1845 – August 19, 1930) was a Norwegian businessman, landowner, and diplomat in Argentina. Early life and family Christophersen was born in Tønsberg, the son of the customs official Ole Christopherse ...

and the grand-uncle of

Erling Christophersen Erling Christophersen (April 17, 1898 – November 9, 1994) was a Norwegian botanist, geographer and diplomat. He participated in and led several notable scientific expeditions in the 20th century, including the fifth Tanager Expedition (1924) to N ...

. In June 1876, he married Swedish citizen Berta Alexandra Juliane Carola Juhlin-Dannfelt (1856–1943). He earned 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 ...

in 1850. After a brief career as a private tutor in the Netherlands, Christophersen entered the study of law at the

Royal Frederick University 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 ...

(now the University of Oslo) in 1853, graduating in 1857. He worked as a language teacher to finance his education. From 1857 he worked in the Ministry of Auditing, but in 1859 his language skills got him an assignment within the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

's office for trade and consular affairs. In 1864 he was transferred to the Swedish-Norwegian foreign service. He served as consul in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

from 1864 and in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

from 1868 to 1870, and then as consul-general in the same city until 1878. Having secured this position, he was stationed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

;

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

; and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Upon the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, he stayed in Antwerp in the same position, only for the Norwegian government. In March 1908, he was appointed as

in the first cabinet of

Gunnar Knudsen Gunnar Knudsen (19 September 1848 – 1 December 1928), born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party who served as the prime minister of Norway twice from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920. He also inherited a s ...

, where he served until February 1910, when the cabinet resigned.

Legacy

As a professional within the field of Swedish-Norwegian foreign affairs, Christophersen's career was limited by his lack of family connections and financial resources. As he had served on the commission to study a separate consular corps for Norway, as well as other committees on the topic, he fell out of

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

's good graces. As consul, he had several notable accomplishments: * In 1884–85, acting as the ad hoc

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

emissary in Mexico for Sweden-Norway, he had secured the release of a Norwegian ship and negotiated a trade agreement between Mexico and the kingdom he represented. * He also negotiated trade agreements limited to Norway (and not Sweden) with Spain in 1893 and Switzerland in 1894. As foreign minister, his in-depth knowledge and field experience with consular affairs made him particularly suited to build a foreign service organization to serve Norwegian economic interests. He also worked to reconcile relations between Norway and Sweden. His wife was Swedish, the daughter of a Swedish diplomat. He accepted the position as foreign minister on the condition that he was able to return to his post as consul general in Antwerp. Instead, he was awarded an adequate pension and remained in Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christophersen, Wilhelm 1832 births 1913 deaths Norwegian diplomats Government ministers of Norway Liberal Party (Norway) politicians People from Porsgrunn University of Oslo alumni Norwegian expatriates in Spain Norwegian expatriates in Argentina Norwegian expatriates in France Norwegian expatriates in England Norwegian expatriates in Belgium Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order