Haagen Mathiesen

Who was Haagen Mathiesen?

Haagen Mathiesen was a Norwegian timber merchant, ship-owner and politician.

He was born in Christiania as the son of timber merchant and judge Jørgen Mathiesen and his wife Karen Haagensdatter Nielsen. He graduated from Christiania Cathedral School in 1776 and then from the University of Copenhagen in 1780 with the cand.jur. degree. He came from a wealthy background, but lost his parents early, and his first business venture, a dry goods store in Moss, Norway, failed. In March 1790 he married Beate Monsen, a daughter of Mogens Larsen Monsen. He soon involved himself in the Monsen family business, as a timber merchant and ship-owner, and bought the share of his father-in-law in 1797. In 1802 he inherited Linderud manor, previously owned by Mogens Larsen Monsen. Linderud manor soon became the cornerstone of Mathiesen's family property, and the outtake of timber was concentrated to Hurdal, a few hours north of Linderud.

Unlike many others, Mathiesen survived the Gunboat War economically, and stood out as one of the wealthiest persons in Christiania around 1814. He had helped found the Royal Frederick University in 1811, and was a member of the city commission in Christiania, a forerunner institution of the city council which came in 1837–38. He stood for general election in 1817, but failed. In 1814, when the union with Denmark was dissolved, Mathiesen campaigned for a union with Sweden, even going as far as inviting King Charles XIV John of Sweden to his manor. The union came to be after the summer's Swedish campaign against Norway, but only as a loose personal union. Disgruntled by national events, Mathiesen repatriated to Paris in 1819 and Copenhagen in 1826. Mathiesen, who previously had sided with Sweden, now pledged allegiance to the Danish state. Francis Sejersted has noted that Mathiesen followed the princicple "ubi bene ibi patria".