Political Career
Nygaardsvold was born in Hommelvik, the main center of the municipality of Malvik in the county of Sør-Trøndelag to a tenant farmer and his wife. His father was a founding member of the first labor union in the area, and Johan took his first job as a lumber mill worker when he was 12.
Nygaardsvold emigrated to Canada in 1902, where he took the name John Westby. He took jobs in British Columbia in Canada, and Kalispell, Montana, and Spokane, Washington in USA before returning to Norway in 1907, having followed a career as an I.W.W. agitator. In 1910, he was elected to the board of education for the Labour Party, and rose quickly through the ranks in local politics. In 1916, he was elected to the Norwegian parliament for the first time, serving continuously until 1949. He worked as a laborer in the Swedish lumber industry during the summers in the first few years. From 1920 to 1922 he served as the mayor for his home town of Malvik.
In 1928, Nygaardsvold was appointed minister of agriculture in the short-lived Christopher Hornsrud cabinet. From 11 January 1934 to 20 March 1935 he served as President of the Storting. In 1935, Nygaardsvold was asked to form a government. He served as prime minister until the Nazi Germany attack on Norway 9 April 1940, when the government fled to London. He continued as prime minister in exile until the government returned to Norway 31 May 1945 and resigned on 25 June, when Haakon VII appointed Einar Gerhardsen to head an interim government composed of all political parties. He retired from politics in 1949 and died of cancer in 1952.
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