Short biography

Konow, Wollert

1845 – 1924
Teacher, farmer and politician
Liberal

As a young man, Wollert Konow studied law but he never got a degree. From 1868 he ran a school in the countryside in western Norway. In 1878 he took over his father’s farm outside Bergen, Norway’s second largest city. Soon after, he became engaged in politics.

Konow was a member of the Storting in 1880-1888, 1898-1900 and in 1910-1912. He served as President of the Odelsting in 1884-1888 and was President of the Storting in 1898-1900 and in 1912. He was Norwegian Prime Minister in 1910 until 1912.

Wollert Konow was a Norwegian delegate to the Peace Conference at the Hague in 1899. As deputy member, he acted as a substitute for Hagerup in the final meeting of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 1920. He was a full member of the committee in 1922-1924.

Back to the list of Norwegian Nobel Committee members 1901-2017

The biographical sketches of the Norwegian Nobel Committee members were written by Sølvi Glendrange and edited by Øyvind Tønnesson. They are based on the following sources:
– Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (Norwegian Biographical Encyclopaedia), Oslo 1923-1983
– Hvem er Hvem? (The Norwegian “Who’s Who”), several editions
– Aschehoug og Gyldendals Store Norske Leksikon (The Norwegian National Encyclopaedia), Kunnskapsforlaget, 2nd and 3rd edition, Oslo 1989/1995-1999
– Kunnskapsforlagets Nettleksikon (the Web Encyclopedia of Kunnskapsforlaget, www.kunnskapsforlaget.no), Oslo 1999