Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII Of Norway

Haakon VII (Prince Carl of Denmark and Iceland, born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel) (3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957), known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. As one of the few elected monarchs, Haakon quickly won the respect and affection of his people and played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the attack and five-year-long Nazi occupation during World War II.

In Norway, Haakon is regarded as one of the greatest Norwegians of the twentieth century and is particularly revered for his courage during the German invasion—he threatened abdication if the government cooperated with the invading Germans—and for his leadership and preservation of Norwegian unity during the Nazi occupation. He died at the age of 85 on 21 September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years.

Read more about Haakon VII Of Norway:  Early Years As A Danish Prince, Accession To The Norwegian Throne, Reign As Norwegian King, Resistance During World War II, Post-war Years, Ancestry, Honours, Titles and Styles

Famous quotes containing the words vii and/or norway:

    I cannot be indifferent to the assassination of a member of my profession, We should be obliged to shut up business if we, the Kings, were to consider the assassination of Kings as of no consequence at all.
    —Edward VII (1841–1910)

    Write about winter in the summer. Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy; describe Dublin as James Joyce did, from a desk in Paris. Willa Cather wrote her prairie novels in New York City; Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn in Hartford, Connecticut. Recently, scholars learned that Walt Whitman rarely left his room.
    Annie Dillard (b. 1945)