Sigvald Hasund

Who was Sigvald Hasund?

Sigvald Mathias Hasund was a Norwegian researcher of agriculture and politician for the Liberal Party. He was Minister of Church and Education from 1928 to 1931.

He was born in Hasund in Ulstein as the son of a farmer. He graduated from at the Higher College of Agriculture in 1890, and from 1890 to 1897 he was a school teacher and headmaster in his native Romsdals Amt. In 1898 he was appointed county agronomist in Bratsbergs Amt. He left in 1906 to edit the magazine Frøi. He also covered agricultural topics for the newspaper Den 17de Mai for some time.

He was hired as a teacher at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1907. In 1914 he was promoted to professor, specializing in the history of agriculture. He was the first publish a concise history of agriculture in Norway. From 1923 to 1928 he served as rector at the Norwegian College of Agriculture.

Hasund had been involved in politics as a member of the executive committee of Aas municipal council from 1917 to 1918. When the second cabinet Mowinckel assumed office in 1928, Hasund was appointed Minister of Church and Education. He was known for refusing to ordain liberal theologian Kristian Schjelderup, who would become bishop in 1947, as vicar in the parish Værøy og Røst.