Johan Sverdrup - Early Years

Early Years

He was born in Sem, close to Norway's oldest city, Tønsberg. His father was a pioneer in scientific agriculture in Norway. He finished his Law studies in 1841. The year before he had his debut as a mountaineer and climbed Norway's eighth highest mountain, Surtningssui, and thereby becoming for a short period the Norwegian who had been at the highest point in the country. His remarkable feat was his sole first climb.

He worked as a lawyer in Larvik, a small town on the west coast of the Oslofjord. In 1851 he was for the first time elected to the Storting, and from then until his appointment as Prime Minister in 1884, he was one of the leaders of parliament. In Norway, political parties were considered inappropriate and unwanted. Sverdrup tried from his earliest days in the Storting to form a radical party consisting of the large group of peasants and the radical elements among the representatives from the cities. His first attempt was named the "lawyers' party" after the profession of the leaders of the group. It soon became evident that the times were not ripe for such a radical novelty, and for the next years Sverdrup knit a loose alliance with the peasant leader, Ole Gabriel Ueland.

It is ironic that if it hadn't been for Sverdrup's fervent opposition, the reform that would transform Norwegian political life from 1884 on, would have been introduced two decades earlier. The Government wanted the Ministers to meet in parliamentary sessions to further the communications between the King's Council and those elected by the people. Sverdrup managed to prevent this reform with the support of a great number of the peasants.