Fredrik Monsen

Christian Fredrik Monsen (27 April 1878 – 31 January 1954) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and the Communist Party.

Fredrik Monsen
President of the Storting
In office 10 December 1945 – 10 January 1949
Monarch	Haakon VII
Prime Minister	Einar Gerhardsen
Vice President	Gustav Natvig-Pedersen
Preceded by	C. J. Hambro
Succeeded by	Gustav Natvig-Pedersen
Minister of Defence
In office 20 March 1935 – 22 December 1939
Prime Minister	Johan Nygaardsvold
Preceded by	Jens Isak Kobro
Succeeded by	Birger Ljungberg
In office 28 January 1928 – 15 February 1928
Prime Minister	Christopher Hornsrud
Preceded by	Ingolf E. Christensen
Succeeded by	Torgeir Anderssen-Rysst
Personal details
Born	Christian Fredrik Monsen (1878-04-27)27 April 1878 Kristiania, Sweden-Norway
Died	31 January 1954(1954-01-31) (aged 75) Oslo, Norway
Political party	Norwegian Communist Party (1923–1927) Labour Party (1927–1954)
Spouse	Aasta Ingerø Hansen
Children	Per Monsen Randi Monsen

History

He was born in Kristiania as a son of Ludvig Monsen (1854–1942) and Josefine Aurora Marcelie Dehn (1852–1942).^[1]

Monsen edited the newspaper Demokraten from 1913 to 1916 and was a member of Hamar city council from 1907 to 1945, serving as mayor in 1916–1919. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from the Market towns of Hedmark and Oppland counties in 1922, and was re-elected on six occasions. He represented the Labour Party, except for the term 1925–1927 when he represented the Communist Party. During his last term, from December 10, 1945 to January 10, 1949, he was the President of the Storting.^[2] Already before the 1945 election, when the old Parliament was convened, Monsen was installed in the Presidium as the Labour Party dropped their former member of the presidium Magnus Nilssen.^[3]

Monsen headed the Ministry of Defence during the short-lived Hornsrud's Cabinet in 1928 and then during Nygaardsvold's Cabinet. Unusually for a Minister of Defence, Monsen was an antimilitarist and wrote three anti-militarist pamphlets (Sannheten om militærvesenet, Avvæbning eller militarisme and Militært vanvidd eller civil fornuft).^[2]

References

1. Pryser, Tore. "Fredrik Monsen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
2. "Fredrik Monsen" (in Norwegian). Storting.
3. Berntsen, Harald (2006). Statsministerkuppet [The prime ministerial coup] (in Norwegian). Oslo: Centrum. p. 105. ISBN 978-82-307-0002-0.

Political offices
Preceded by Ingolf Elster Christensen	Norwegian Minister of Defence January 1928–February 1928	Succeeded by Torgeir Anderssen-Rysst
Preceded by Jens Isak de Lange Kobro	Norwegian Minister of Defence 1935–1939 (Oscar Torp acting 1935–1936)	Succeeded by Birger Ljungberg
Preceded by Carl Joachim Hambro	President of the Storting 1945–1949	Succeeded by Gustav Natvig-Pedersen