Gunnar Knudsen born Aanon Gunerius Knudsen, was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 politician from the Liberal Party

Venstre (Norway)

The Liberal Party is a centrist liberal political party in Norway. The party is the oldest in the country, and has enacted reforms such as parliamentarism, freedom of religion, universal suffrage and free education. Since 2010, the leader of the party is Trine Skei Grande...

 who had two spells as Prime Minister of Norway

Prime Minister of Norway

The Prime Minister of Norway is the political leader of Norway and the Head of His Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Stortinget , to their political party, and ultimately the...

 from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920. He also owned a number of shipping companies, and created the Borgestad

Borgestad

Borgestad is a Norwegian shipping, industry and real estate company. It operates 11 open hatch bulk carriers and one Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel. It also owns a shopping centre in Bytom, Poland and a housing complex at Borgestadholmen...

 corporation.

Personal life

Knudsen was born in Saltrød near Arendal

Arendal

is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...

 to Christen

Christen Knudsen

-Personal life:Christen Knudsen was born in 1813 at Salterød near Arendal. He moved to Porsgrund in 1855.He married Gurine Aadnesdatter . The couple had three children. Their sons Jørgen Christian Knudsen and Gunnar Knudsen both became wealthy ship-owners and influential politicians: Jørgen...

 and Gurine (originally Guro) Knudsen. The family later bought the farm Frednes in Eidanger

Eidanger

Eidanger is a rural parish and former municipality of Porsgrunn, in Telemark County, Norway.-History:Eidanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . It was merged with Porsgrunn on 1 January 1964....

 in 1854, and moved there. Gunnar Knudsen had one brother Jørgen Christian

Jørgen Christian Knudsen

Jørgen Christian Knudsen was a Norwegian ship-owner and politician for the Conservative Party.-Personal life:...

 and one sister Elen Serine, married Jeremiassen.

Gunnar Knudsen married Anna Sofie Cappelen

Cappelen (family)

Cappelen is the surname of a prominent Norwegian family of merchants, land owners, civil servants and politicians. In the 18th and 19th century, it was one of the so-called patrician families in Norway, i.e...

 in 1880, and together they had five children, born between 1882 and 1893; Erik, Christen, Gudrun, Margit

Margit Schiøtt

Margit Schiøtt, née Knudsen was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. She was born in Gjerpen, a daughter of the Norwegian Prime Minister Gunnar Knudsen. Her husband was dr. ing. Didrik Cappelen Schiøtt and they lived at Gulset in Skien, Norway, where they also owned a little farm...

 and Rolf. Margit, married Schiøtt, was elected to the national parliament in 1945. Christen Knudsen had a son Knut Andreas Knudsen

Knut Andreas Knudsen

Knut Andreas Knudsen was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. Born in Gjerpen, he was the son of Christen Knudsen, Jr...

who became a politician as well.