List of county governors of Finnmark

The county governor of Finnmark county in Norway represented the central government administration in the county. The office of county governor is a government agency of the Kingdom of Norway; the title was Amtmann (before 1919) and then Fylkesmann (after 1919).

In 1576, the king of Norway established Vardøhus len as a new administrative unit for the northern part of the kingdom. In 1661, it became Vardøhus amt that was subordinate to the Trondhjem stiftamt and the king began appointing a county governor. In 1787, the island of Senja and the Troms area were transferred from Nordlandenes amt to Vardøhus amt and the new, larger county was renamed Finmarkens amt. In 1866, the island of Senja and the Troms area were separated from Vardøhus to form the new Tromsø amt. In 1919, the name was again changed to Finnmark fylke. In 2002, the Sami language name, Finnmárku, was added as a co-official name for the county. From 1 January 2019 the county governor offices of Troms and Finnmark were merged in anticipation of the merger of the two counties.

From 1844 until 1918, the county was subordinate to the Diocesan Governor of Tromsø who was the civil governor of the Diocese of Tromsø.

The county governor is the government's representative in the county. The governor carries out the resolutions and guidelines of the Storting and government. This is done first by the county governor performing administrative tasks on behalf of the ministries. Secondly, the county governor also monitors the activities of the municipalities and is the appeal body for many types of municipal decisions.

Names

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The name of the county (Vardøhus, Finmarken, Finnmark) and the word for county (amt, fylke) have changed over the centuries. From 1661 until 1787 the title was Amtmann i Vardøhus amt. From 1787 until 1918, it was Amtmann i Finmarkens amt. Since 1918, the title was Fylkesmann i Finnmark fylke.

List of county governors

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Finnmark county has had the following governors:[1][2][3]

County governors of Finnmark
Start End Name
1661 1666 Christoffer Orning (1617–1676)


1666 1667 Frederik Schort (1614–1674)  
1668 1680 Otte Hansen Bjelke


1680 1682 Knud Gjedde (c. 1635-1707)
Served concurrently as the Amtmann for Nordlandenes amt.



1682 1684 The magistrates (city council) of
Bergen supervised this county.



1684 1701 Hans Hansen Lilienskiold (c. 1650–1703)


1701 1717 Erik Matssøn Lorch (1647–1717)


1717 1718 Jacob Møinichen (1680–1718)


1718 1720 Nikolai Friese (16??–1721)


1720 1729 Peter Siedelmann (16??–1729)


1730 1738 Henrik Friman (1678–1738)


1739 1750 Rasmus Kjeldsøn (1701–1753)


1750 1750 Peter Schnitler[4] (1690–1751)
(Appointed, but never took office.)



1750 1757 Mathias Collett (1708–1759)


1757 1768 Gunder Gundersen Hammer (1725–1772)


1768 1771 Eiler Hagerup (1736–1795)  
1771 1778 Thorkild Fjeldsted (1740–1796)


1778 1787 Christen Heiberg (1737–1801)


1787 1800 Ole Hannibal Sommerfeldt (1753–1821)


1800 1806 Martin Andreas Unmack (1754–1806)


1806 1811 Hilmar Meincke Krohg (1776–1851)  
1811 1814 Fredrik Wilhelm Wedel-Jarlsberg (1787–1863)  
1814 1828 Johan Caspar Krogh (1776–1831)


1828 1829 Christian Ulrik Kastrup (1784–1850)


1829 1833 Ulrik Frederik Cappelen (1797–1864)


1833 1843 Ole Edvard Buck (1799–1843)


Aug
1839
Mar
1845
Mons Lie (1803–1881)
(Acting governor for Buck, then Harris.)



1844 1853 Anton Theodor Harris (1804–1866)
Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Tromsø stiftamt.
Served concurrently as Amtmann for Tromsø amt.



1854 1857 Carl Frederik Motzfeldt (1808–1902)
Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Tromsø stiftamt.
Served concurrently as Amtmann for Tromsø amt.
 
1858 1866 Mathias Bonsach Krogh Nannestad (1815–1878)
Served concurrently as Stiftamtmann for Tromsø stiftamt.
Served concurrently as Amtmann for Tromsø amt.



1866 1874 Jens Holmboe (1821–1891)  
1874 1882 Johan Blackstad (1832–1904)


1882 1885 Carl Ingwart Theodor Rynning (1837–1892)


1886 1889 Karl Adolf Langberg (1850–1889)


1889 1894 Nikolai Christian Grove Prebensen (1850–1938)  
1896 1906 Truls Johannessen Wiel Graff (1851–1918)


1906 1912 Andreas Tostrup Urbye (1869–1955)  
1912 1921 Johan Albrigt Rivertz (1874–1942)


1922 1928 Hagbarth Lund (1877–1963)


1928 1948 Hans Gabrielsen (1891–1965)
(Imprisoned by WWII Occupied government from 1941–1945.)



1941 1944 Thor Bekeng (1905–19??)
(WWII Occupied government)



Nov
1944
Sep
1945
Peder Holt (1899–1963)
(Acting governor for Gabrielsen.)
 
Sep
1945
Nov
1945
Erling Johannes Norvik[5][6] (1899–1964)
(Acting governor for Gabrielsen.)



1948 1963 Peder Holt (1899–1963)  
1951 1955 Dag Tønder (1907–1989)
(Acting governor for Holt.)



1963 1974 Kolbjørn Varmann (1904–1980)


Mar
1963
July
1965
Anders John Aune (1923–2011)
(Acting governor for Varmann.)



1974 1989 Anders John Aune (1923–2011)


Jan
1990
May
1990
Kurt Mosbakk (born 1934)
(Acting governor)



Mar
1990
Mar
1998
Svein Alsaker (born 1940)  
Aug
1990
July
1993
Ingrid Røstad Fløtten (born 1954)
(Acting governor for Alsaker.)



1998 2016 Gunnar Kjønnøy (born 1947)


2016 Oct
2018
Ingvild Aleksandersen (born 1968)  
Oct
2018
Dec
2018
Stian Lindgård (born 1968)
(Acting governor)



Office abolished on 1 January 2019,
see List of county governors of Troms and Finnmark

References

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  1. ^ Cahoon, Ben (2000). "Norwegian Counties". Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  2. ^ "Stiftamtmenn, amtmenn og fylkesmenn 1814-1994" (in Norwegian). regjeringen.no. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  3. ^ Berg, Ole T., ed. (2016-06-13). "Fylkesmenn og amtmenn (stiftamtmenn) siden 1671". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  4. ^ Tretvik, Aud, ed. (2009-02-13). "Peter Schnitler". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  5. ^ "Finnmark fylkesmannsembete". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 15 September 1945. p. 12.
  6. ^ Bottolfsen, Øystein (1990). Finnmark fylkeskommunes historie 1840-1990 (in Norwegian). Vadsø: Finnlands fylkeskommune. p. 360. ISBN 9788299138055.