Abraham Theodor Berge
Abraham Theodor Berge in 1912
15th Prime Minister of Norway
In office
30 May 1923 – 25 July 1924
MonarchHaakon VII
Preceded byOtto B. Halvorsen
Succeeded byJohan Ludwig Mowinckel
Minister of Finance
In office
6 March 1923 – 25 July 1924
Prime MinisterOtto B. Halvorsen
Himself
Preceded byOtto Blehr
Succeeded byArnold Holmboe
In office
2 February 1910 – 20 February 1912
Prime MinisterWollert Konow
Preceded byGunnar Knudsen
Succeeded byFredrik L. Konow
In office
7 November 1906 – 23 October 1907
Prime MinisterChristian Michelsen
Preceded byEdvard H. Bull
Succeeded byMagnus Halvorsen
Minister of Education and Church Affairs
In office
23 October 1907 – 19 March 1908
Prime MinisterJørgen Løvland
Preceded byOtto Jensen
Succeeded byKarl Seip
Personal details
Born
Abraham Theodor Berge

(1851-08-20)20 August 1851
Lyngdal,  Norway
Died10 July 1936(1936-07-10) (aged 84)
Tønsberg,  Norway
Political partyFree-minded Liberal
Other political
affiliations		Liberal
SpouseAnne Elisabeth Kylleberg
Profession
Awards Order of St. Olav

Abraham Theodor Berge (20 August 1851 – 10 July 1936) was the 15th prime minister of Norway from 1923 to 1924. He was a teacher and civil servant who represented the Liberal Party, the social liberal party, and later Free-minded Liberal Party, a right-of-centre party. [1]

Biography

Berge was born at Lyngdal in Lister og Mandals amt (present-day Vest-Agder), Norway . He was the son of Johan Tobias Johnsen Berge (1813–1883) and Helene Andreasdatter Kvalsvig. He attended the teacher's course offered by Reinert Rødland in Lyngdal. In 1867, Berge became teacher at the Nordbygda skole in Vanse. He also served as sheriff in Vanse from 1904 to 1908. In 1908, Berge was appointed County Governor of Jarlsberg og Larvik amt, a position he held until 1924.[2]

Berge started his political career in Lista in the present-day municipality of Farsund, where he was in 1882 elected mayor. From here he went on to the Norwegian Parliament in 1891. He served, in different periods, as both Minister of Culture and Church Affairs and Minister of Finance. Then, after a 10-year absence from politics, he became again Minister of Finance, and later also Prime Minister, when sitting Prime Minister Otto Bahr Halvorsen died. He resigned this post as the result of the defeat in a vote to lift prohibition.[3]

In 1926 he became the only Norwegian prime minister to ever be impeached. The charge was withholding information relating to the government rescue of a bank threatened by bankruptcy. However, he was acquitted in 1927, along with the six ministers who stood trial alongside him.[4]

Selected works

  • Listerlandets kystværn og kaperfart 1807–14 (Tønsberg 1914) and Lista. En bygdebok (Tønsberg 1926). Both books reprinted 2006 by sokkhammer Forlag AS.

References

  1. ↑ "Abraham Berge, Prime Minister 1923 - 1924". Government.no. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ Berg, Ole T., ed. (2023-02-01). "Statsforvaltere, fylkesmenn og amtmenn (stiftamtmenn) siden 1671". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  3. ↑ Svein Carstens. "Abraham Berge, Lærer, Politiker". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Abraham Theodor Berge". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
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