Haakon VII of Norway

Who was Haakon VII of Norway?

Haakon VII IPA, 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 Nazi invasion and subsequent five-year-long occupation of his country 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.