Johan Sverdrup


Sverdrup, Johan

 

Born July 30, 1816, in Jarlsberg og Lar-vik; died Feb. 17, 1892, in Christiania, present-day Oslo. Norwegian political figure.

A lawyer by profession, Sverdrup became a deputy to the Storting (parliament) in 1851 and served as its president from 1871 to 1884. In 1884 he helped found the liberal opposition party, the Venstre (Left), in the Storting. As prime minister from 1884 to 1889, Sverdrup pursued a conciliatory policy toward the monarchy; this policy led to a split in the Venstre in 1885 and to the fall of the Sverdrup government.