Jørgen Christian Knudsen (5 January[1] or 5 December 1843[2] – 25 December 1922) was a Norwegian ship-owner and politician for the Conservative Party.
Personal life
He was born at Saltrø in Stokken as a son of Christen and Guro Knudsen, née Aadnesdatter.[2] The family bought the farm Frednes in Eidanger in 1854, and moved there. Jørgen Christian Knudsen had one sister Elen Serine, who married Johan Jeremiassen, and one brother Gunnar.[3] Gunnar Knudsen would later become Prime Minister of Norway for the Liberal Party.
Knudsen was a notable ship-owner,[1] running the company J. C. & G. Knudsen with his brother Gunnar.[6] He was also a shipbuilder and factory owner.[2] The partnership with his brother ended in 1889, and Knudsen ran his own company.[6] The company was passed down to his sons Finn and Christen, and split between them in 1923.[4] One of Knudsen's best known ships was the Skomvær, which was for a time the largest sailing ship in Norway.
He was the mayor of Porsgrund municipality in 1893, and vice mayor in 1891, 1892, 1894 and 1895.[7] He was elected to the city council for the first time in 1877.[8] He also represented the city in the Parliament of Norway, where he advocated and defended the union with Sweden.[8] He was elected from the constituency Porsgrund in 1880, 1883, 1886, 1892, 1895, 1898 and 1904. For the first five terms he was a member of the Standing Committee on Justice, then the Standing Committee on the Army. In his last term he chaired the Standing Committee on Railways.[2]
^ abcRønningen (Øvre Frednes), in Gårds og slektshistorie for Eidanger. Fra 1814-1980, by Per Chr. Nagell Svendsen. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library.
^ ab"Christen Knudsen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). Retrieved 1 December 2010.
^"Robert Rafn" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). Retrieved 1 December 2010.