Jacob Aall Bonnevie

Who was Jacob Aall Bonnevie?

Jacob Aall Bonnevie was a Norwegian school director and a politician for the Conservative Party. Born in Christiania, he was the son of Honoratus Bonnevie who later became mayor of the city. After finishing his education, Jacob started working at Christiania Cathedral School, before being appointed school superintendent of Trondheim school district, at the age of 34, in 1872. As a school director he was a reformer, particularly promoting the role of sciences in the Norwegian school system. He also wrote much-used text books on geometry and algebra.

Bonnevie was also active in national politics, where he was the Conservative Party's foremost spokesman on educational issues. He was elected to the parliament six times, and sat in the period from 1880 to 1897. In 1889, he was appointed Minister of Education and Church Affairs in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Emil Stang, which lasted until 1891. Later, in 1895, he was himself asked to form a coalition government, but the negotiations failed.

Bonnevie died in 1904, while attending a school conference in Linköping, Sweden. He was married twice, first to Anne Johanne Daae, secondly to Susanne Bryn.