Thomas Heftye
| Thomas Heftye | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Minister of Defence | |
|
In office June 1903 – October 1903 |
|
| Minister of Defence | |
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In office March 1908 – April 1908 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 April 1860 Vestre Aker |
| Died | 19 September 1921 (aged 61) Trondhjem |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Relations |
Thomas Johannessen Heftye (father) Johannes Thomassen Heftye (grandfather) Henrik Heftye (granduncle) |
| Alma mater | Norwegian Military Academy |
| Occupation | Military officer Engineer, telegrapher Sports official Arbitrator |
Thomas Thomassen Heftye (10 April 1860 – 19 September 1921) was a Norwegian military officer, engineer, sports official and politician for the Liberal Party. He is best known as the Norwegian Minister of Defence from June to October 1903 and March to April 1908, as well as the director of Telegrafverket. He was killed in the Nidareid train disaster.
He was born in Vestre Aker as the son of banker Thomas Johannessen Heftye (1822–1886) and his wife Marie Jacobine Meyer (1826–1895). He was a grandson of banker and politician Johannes Thomassen Heftye. His great-grandfather migrated to Norway from Hätzingen, Switzerland in the late eighteenth century, and founded the family company Thos. Joh. Heftye & Søn. He was also a grandnephew of Henrik Thomassen Heftye. In May 1888 he married Marie Berghaus (1869–1931).
He finished his secondary education in 1878, and took a military education in the following years. From 1880 he worked in the family company Thos. Joh. Heftye & Søn, but in 1885 he returned to the military, enrolling at the Norwegian Military Academy. In 1892 he took education as a telegrapher, and started working in the Norwegian Army engineer department instead of in the infantry. He also became involved in local politics in his native Aker municipality. He belonged to the Liberal Party, and was regarded as being on their radical wing.
From 1900 to 1902 he served in Paris as military attaché of Sweden and Norway. On 9 June 1903 he was appointed as Minister of Defence as a part of the Blehr's First Cabinet. He held this position until 21 October 1903, when the cabinet fell. In the same year he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was assigned to work as a military consultant at the Council of State Division in Stockholm. He would provide valuable information in the buildup for the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, which the Liberal Party supported. In 1905, then, he was made director of Telegrafverket, running the state monopoly on telegraph services. Telegrafverket is considered a predecessor of today's telecommunications company Telenor.
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