Mons Lie

Who was Mons Lie?

Mons Lie was a Norwegian police chief and writer.

He was born in Ålen as a son of Jonas Monsen Storli and Karen Svendsdotter Aspaas. His mother was a first cousin of Svend Aspaas. In February 1777 he married Dorothea Wollan, but the marriage did not last. From October 1793 he was married to Elisabeth Sofie Müller. After her death he married Anna Margrethe Hagerup, a daughter of Christian Frederik Hagerup, in March 1811.

Mons Lie was a descendant of several notable people. His grandson Mons Lie married a sister of Erik Røring Møinichen and had the daughters Erika, Ida and Thomasine Lie. Another grandson Michael Strøm Lie was the father of well-known writer Jonas Lie, who also married Thomasine Lie.

Lie made his way from the family farm Storli, via Røros where he was an errand boy for Peder Hjort, to the regional center Trondhjem where he was hired as a clerk for auditor-general Andreas Klingenberg. He advanced in the ranks within Klingenberg's business. From 1793 to 1811 he practised as an attorney in Trondhjem city. He was also fire chief from 1800, and member of the city's council from 1808. From 1817 to his death he was the chief of police in the city. He died in August 1827 in Trondhjem.