Johan Cappelen 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...

 jurist and politician for the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Norway

The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...

.

He was born in Skogn

Skogn

Skogn is a village and former municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Levanger. It is home to the Fiborgtangen industrial area.The village of Skogn is located about southwest of the town of Levanger...

. He graduated with cand.jur. degree in 1911. He worked as a deputy judge, and from 1915, attorney. He was barrister with access to work with Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

 from 1922.

As a politician Cappelen was elected to Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 city council, and later served as mayor from 1931 to 1934. In 1940 he was appointed County Governor of Sør-Trøndelag. However, during the German occupation of Norway

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

 Cappelen was removed. He was a member of the resistance group Sivorg. From 1943 to 1945 he was imprisoned, at Vollan, Falstad

Falstad concentration camp

Falstad concentration camp was a prison camp in the village of Ekne in what was the municipality of Skogn in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway...

 and Grini.

When the occupation ended in 1945, Cappelen was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police

Minister of Justice and the Police (Norway)

In Norway, the Minister of Justice and the Police is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. Current minister is Grete Faremo of the Norwegian Labour Party who is part of the second cabinet Stoltenberg...

 in the non-partisan Gerhardsen's First Cabinet. This cabinet lasted from June to November 1945, when a general election was held and the Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet

Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet

Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 5 November 1945 and 19 November 1951. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen....

assumed office. Cappelen was reinstated as County Governor of Sør-Trøndelag, and held the post until his death in 1947.