Christian Magnus Falsen
Christian Magnus Falsen | |
---|---|
Born | Christiania, Norway | 14 September 1782
Died | 13 January 1830 Christiania, Norway | (aged 47)
Nationality | Norwegian |
Occupation | Jurist |
Known for | Father of the Norwegian Constitution |
Spouses |
|
Children | 3 |
Parent | Enevold de Falsen (father) |
Christian Magnus Falsen (14 September 1782 – 13 January 1830) was a Norwegian constitutional father, statesman, jurist, and historian. He was an important member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly and was one of the writers of the Constitution of Norway.
Falsen has been named the father of the Norwegian Constitution.
Biography
Christian Magnus Falsen was born in
After
Falsen held a seat in the Storting and generally favored conservative political positions. In 1822 he was appointed Attorney General of the Kingdom, a post which he held for three years. In 1825 he became bailiff for Bergen, and in 1827 president of the Supreme Court. In 1828 he suffered from a stroke and did not return to the office. Christian Magnus Falsen is buried at Gamlebyen Churchyard. Next to his gravestone is the gravestone of his second wife.
In 1804, he married Anna Birgitte Munch (1787-1810), with whom he had the son Enevold Munch Falsen (1810–80). In 1811, after her death, he married Elisabeth Severine Böckmann (1782-1848). She was the widow of Brede Stoltenberg, a brother of the tradesman Gregers Stoltenberg. With her he had the children Henrik Anton Falsen (1813–66) and Elisabeth Christine Falsen (1820–76).[12]
American influence
Falsen's admiration for the
Falsen later wrote the first biography of George Washington in the Norwegian language, which was a highly laudatory biographical sketch of George Washington.[16][17] In his Washington biography, Falsen described him as the epitome of moral strength, marked by a serious thoughtfulness and an extraordinary self-mastery and unselfishness based on the laws of honor and common sense.[18]
Falsen has been nicknamed "Norway's James Madison". He was well-orientated on the political and constitutional developments in America. He was impressed by the American independence movement. Falsen also argued for a bicameral system similar to what he called the "world's greatest constitution": the American Constitution.[19]
Falsen was chairman of the Constituent Assembly's committee charged with drafting the constitution and at times served as the president of the assembly. The constitutional draft by
The draft incorporated a word-for-word translation of Article 30 of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, articulating the principle of the separation of powers. Other provisions also showed parallels to the U.S. Constitution, including listing the parliament's legislative powers and its method of compensating lawmakers. The Norwegian constitutional rule of parliamentary immunity from arrests and the first article of the U.S. Constitution were particularly striking. The same was true of the rules for impeaching cabinet members.[23][24] It also included corresponding parts of the New Hampshire Constitution. The sentence "Laws, not men should govern" was directly translated from the Massachusetts Constitution.[25]
When Norway joined the U.S. in 1814 as one of the world's first constitutional states, a proposal was made to the Constitutional Assembly that Norway would adopt The Star-Spangled Banner as a new national flag, with five stars, one for each Norwegian diocese. The proposal did not pass.[26]
Falsen was a great admirer of U.S. Presidents George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In 1814, he baptized his son Georg Benjamin in their honor.[27][28][29]
Falsen would later publish a pamphlet on July 4, 1814, about the prospects of a new state where he pointed the American model: "For seven years they fought against the terrible odds. Not in vain, brethren, should these gorgeous examples shine before our eyes!".[30][31]
In 1817, Falsen wrote that the Norwegian Constitution "in particular when it comes to the representation of the people, it almost exclusively kept the American Constitution in view."[32]
Note
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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- NYU Press. Page 144. ISBN 9780814725177.
- Springer International Publishing. Page 287. ISBN 9783319730370.
- ^ Roos, Merethe and Christina Matthiesen (2021). Exploring Textbooks and Cultural Change in Nordic Education 1536–2020. Brill. Page 136. ISBN 9789004449558.
- ^ Fuglestad, Eirik Magnus (2018). Private Property and the Origins of Nationalism in the United States and Norway: The Making of Propertied Communities. Springer. Page 101. ISBN 9783319899503.
- ^ Müßig, Ulrike (2018). Reconsidering Constitutional Formation II Decisive Constitutional Normativity: From Old Liberties to New Precedence. Springer International Publishing. Page 287. ISBN 9783319730370.
- ^ Christian Magnus Falsen, Embedsperson og Politiker (Norsk biografisk leksikon)
- ^ Christian Magnus Falsen (Eidvoll 1812)
- ^ "The abolition of the Jews Act in Norway's Basic Law 1814 - 1851 - 2001. Brief history and description of the documentation".
- ^ Christian Magnus Falsen- Grunnlovens far (Stortinget)
- ^ Selvstendighetspartiet (Norsk partipolitisk leksikon)
- ^ Wasser, Henry H. and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 50. ISBN 9781512806939.
- ^ Familie: Christian Magnus Falsen/Elisabeth Severine Bøckmann (Hemneslekt)
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 26. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). USA i norsk historie: 1000 - 1776 - 1976. Det Norske Samlaget. Page 54. ISBN 8252105661.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 20. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Wasser, Henry and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica: Norwegian Contributions to American Studies, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 51. ISBN 9781512806939.
- ^ "Samtiden: tidsskrift for politik, litteratur og samfunnsspørsmål, vol. 57" (1948). University of Michigan. Page 231.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 27. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Jensen, Bjørn (1976). Møte med Amerika: 25 nordmenn oppfatter amerikansk historie og nåtid. University of Wisconsin–Madison. Page 38. ISBN 9788203086557.
- ^ Bijleveld, Nikolaj and Colin Grittner (2019). Reforming Senates: Upper Legislative Houses in North Atlantic Small Powers 1800-present. Routledge. ISBN 9781000706673.
- ^ Müßig, Ulrike (2018). Reconsidering Constitutional Formation II Decisive Constitutional Normativity: From Old Liberties to New Precedence. Springer International Publishing. Page 287. ISBN 9783319730370.
- ^ Fuglestad, Eirik Magnus (2018). Private Property and the Origins of Nationalism in the United States and Norway: The Making of Propertied Communities. Springer. Page 101. ISBN 9783319899503.
- ^ Billias, George Athan (2011). American Constitutionalism Heard Round the World, 1776-1989: A Global Perspective. NYU Press. Page 144. ISBN 9780814725177.
- ^ Wasser, Henry and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica: Norwegian Contributions to American Studies, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 50. ISBN 9781512806939.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 28. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Wasser, Henry and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica: Norwegian Contributions to American Studies, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 51. ISBN 9781512806939.
- ^ Jensen, Bjørn (1976). Møte med Amerika: 25 nordmenn oppfatter amerikansk historie og nåtid. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Page 38. ISBN 9788203086557.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 29. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Wasser, Henry and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica: Norwegian Contributions to American Studies, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 50. ISBN 9781512806939.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). The United States in Norwegian History. Greenwood Press. Page 30. ISBN 8200049728.
- ^ Skard, Sigmund (1976). USA i norsk historie: 1000 - 1776 - 1976. Det norske samlaget. Page 63. ISBN 8252105661.
- ^ Wasser, Henry and Sigmund Skard (2016). Americana Norvegica: Norwegian Contributions to American Studies, Volume 1. University of Pennsylvania Press. Page 51. ISBN 9781512806939.
Other sources
- Daa, Ludvig Kristensen (1860) Magnus Falsen, et Bidrag til Norges Konstitutions Historie (Christiana)
- Vullum, Erik (1881) Kristian Magnus Falsen, Grundlovens Fader (Christiana)
- Indrebø, Gustav (1919) Det norske generalprokurørembættet: Chr. M. Falsen 1822-1825 (Christiana)
- Østvedt, Einar (1945) Christian Magnus Falsen: linjen i hans politikk. (Oslo: H. Aschehoug and co)
Related Reading
- Barton, H. Arnold (2002) Sweden and Visions of Norway: Politics and Culture 1814-1905 (Southern Illinois University Press) ISBN 978-0809324415