Editing Frederik Stang

{{Short description|Norwegian politician and lawyer (1808–1884)}}
{{about|the Prime Minister|his grandson the Minister of Justice|Fredrik Stang}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Frederik Stang
| predecessor2        = [[Hans Christian Petersen]]
| termend2            = 21 July 1873
| termstart2          = 1861
| office2             = [[Prime Minister of Norway|First Minister of Norway]]
| termstart           = 21 July 1873
| termend             = 4 October 1880
| successor           = [[Christian August Selmer|Christian A. Selmer]]
| profession          = Lawyer
| predecessor         = Himself<br />
{{Small|(as First Minister of Norway)}}
| office              = [[List of heads of government of Norway|Prime Minister of Norway in Christiania]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1808|3|4|df=y}}
| occupation          = Politician
| nationality         = [[Norwegians|Norwegian]]
| monarch             = [[Oscar II]]
| image               = Frederik Stang.jpg
| honorific_suffix    = [[Member of Parliament#Norway|MP]]
| death_place         = [[Bærum]], [[Akershus]], [[Sweden-Norway]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1884|6|8|1808|3|4|df=y}}
| children            = [[Emil Stang]]
| birth_place         = [[Stokke]], [[Vestfold]], [[Denmark-Norway]]
| successor2          = Himself<br/>
{{small|(as Prime Minister of Norway)}}
| monarch2            = [[Charles XV|Charles IV]]<br/>
Oscar II
}}
[[File:Frederik Stang by Gørbitz.png|thumb|250 px|Frederik Stang. portrait by Johan Gørbitz]]
'''Frederik Stang''' (4 March 1808 – 8 June 1884) was a Norwegian lawyer, public servant, and politician who served as [[Norway]]'s first [[List of Norwegian Prime Ministers|prime minister in Christiana]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Frederik Stang, First Minister 1861 - 1873, Prime Minister 1873 - 1880 |url=https://www.regjeringen.no/en/the-government/previous-governments/ministries-and-offices/offices/prime-minister-since-1814/frederik-stang/id440554/ |access-date=August 1, 2016 |publisher=regjeringen.no}}</ref>

Stang was born on the Nordre Rostad farm at [[Stokke]] in [[Vestfold]], Norway. He was the son of Lauritz Leganger Stang (1775–1836) and Johanne  Margrethe Conradi (1780–1820). His father was a procurator and later a magistrate.  At age 13, he entered the [[Bergen Cathedral School]]. Stang, known as Friederich until the 1830s, entered the study of law at the age of 16 and  passed the bar exam in 1828.<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.dokpro.uio.no/cgi-bin/stad/matr50|title=   Raastad nedre. Stokke herad. Vestfold|publisher= 	Matrikkelutkastet av 1950
|author=   Paul Thyness|access-date= August 1, 2016}}</ref>

== Law career ==
In 1830, he accepted a position as lecturer of law at the [[University of Oslo]].  During this time, he published a seminal text on Norwegian constitutional law.  He went over to private practice in 1834, where he distinguished himself as a trial attorney, especially in supreme court cases.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stang, Fredrik |url=https://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/22/0148.html |access-date=August 1, 2016 |publisher=Salmonsens konversationsleksikon}}</ref>

In 1846, Stang became minister of the newly formed [[:no:Indredepartementet (Norge)|Department of the Interior]]. He served in this position until 1856, and his tenure was characterized by tireless efforts to modernize Norway's economic infrastructure. In addition to improving the road network, harbors, canals, and lighthouses, he was in great measure responsible for Norway and [[Scandinavia]]'s [[Hovedbanen|first railroad]], from [[Oslo]] to [[Eidsvoll]]. He also worked hard to elevate the importance and function of agriculture in Norway, initiating the formation of a university-level school of agriculture, commissioned travelling agrarians, and encouraged better breeding among Norwegian farm animals.<ref name=":0" />

== Political career ==
In 1861, after a brief stint as [[List of mayors of Oslo|mayor of Oslo]], Stang was appointed to the Norwegian cabinet. His time as a political leader was characterized by considerable discord within the [[Storting|Norwegian parliament]] and between Norway and the [[Sweden|Swedish]] government. In 1865, Stang founded the [[Norwegian Red Cross]]. In 1870, he was elected a member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=":0" />

Until 1873, the king of the [[personal union]] between [[Sweden-Norway|Sweden and Norway]] governed Norway through two cabinets: one in [[Stockholm]] and another, led by a viceroy in [[Kristiania]], now [[Oslo]].  After the viceroy position had been vacant for some time, the post of prime minister for Norway was instituted in 1873, and Stang was appointed.  Although there was also a prime minister in Stockholm, the one in Norway had the most influence over state affairs. In spite of efforts to reconcile opposing political forces, his party was reduced to a minority position during his tenure. In a gesture of spite, the parliament cut his pension in half in 1881; the citizens of Oslo raised money to make up for the shortfall, and he donated this to a foundation to advance the study of law.<ref>{{cite web |author=Knut Dørum |title=Frederik Stang |url=https://snl.no/Frederik_Stang |access-date=August 1, 2016 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He was married in 1833 with Augusta Julie Georgine von Munthe af Morgenstierne (1812-1885), the daughter of Magistrate [[Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne Sr.|Bredo von Munthe af Morgenstierne]] (1774-1835) and Cathrine Elisabeth Fries (1781-1840). They were the parents of  [[Emil Stang]] (1834-1912). 
Frederik Stang's name is often misspelled as ''Fredrik'' Stang, which was the name of his grandson [[Fredrik Stang]] (1867-1941) who was a noted jurist. He was also the grandfather of [[Emil Stang (born 1882)|Emil Stang]] (1882-1964) and [[Fredrik Stang Lund]] (1859-1922).<ref>{{cite web |author=Jon Gunnar Arntzen |title=Stang – yngre haldenslekt |url=https://snl.no/Stang/yngre_haldenslekt |access-date=August 1, 2016 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
Frederik Stang became a member of [[The Royal Norwegian Scientific Society]] in 1846, the ''Videnskabs-Selskabet'' in [[Freetown Christiania|Christiania]] at its founding in 1857 and the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] in Stockholm. He was appointed Commander of the [[Order of St. Olav]] at its founding in 1847 and was awarded the Grand Cross in 1853. Four years later, he received the highest award in the country, ''Bürgerverdienstmedallie'' in gold. He was a Knight of the Swedish [[Royal Order of the Seraphim]] and had the Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Dannebrog]] and held other foreign orders.<ref>{{cite web|url=  https://nbl.snl.no/Frederik_Stang|title=   Frederik Stang|publisher= Norsk biografisk leksikon|author=   Paul Thyness|access-date= August 1, 2016}}</ref>

==References==
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{{succession box | before=[[Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt]]| title=[[List of mayors of Oslo|Mayor of Oslo]] | years=1861 | after=[[Christian Birch-Reichenwald]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Hans Christian Petersen]]| title=[[List of Norwegian Prime Ministers|Prime Minister of Norway]] | years=1861&ndash;1880 | after=[[Christian August Selmer]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stang, Frederik}}
[[Category:1808 births]]
[[Category:1884 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Norway]]
[[Category:Mayors of Oslo]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Norwegian Red Cross]]
[[Category:19th-century Norwegian lawyers]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Stang family (Halden lineage)|Frederik]]
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[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog]]
[[Category:Attorneys general of Norway]]
[[Category:Members of the Storting 1859–1861]]