Kristian Pedersen Tønder (9 November 1860 – 9 March 1934) was a Norwegian priest and politician for the Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

.

He was born at Sørli in Nesna

Nesna

Nesna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesna....

 as a son of farmers Peder Mikal Kristoffersen (1819–1885) og Jacobine Kristine Arntsdatter (1830–1896). He graduated from Tromsø Seminary in 1883, and studied theology from 1887 until he graduated with the cand.theol.

Cand.theol.

Candidatus theologiæ , Candidata theologiæ , abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six year higher education in theology in Denmark and Norway. In Norway, the title has remained after the "Quality Reform", though it is equivalent to a Master of...

 degree in 1894. At the same time, he also worked as a school teacher in Kristiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. He also taught in Ibestad

Ibestad

Ibestad is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is part of the Hålogaland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hamnvik. Some of the larger villages in Ibestad include Sørvika, Å, and Laupstad....

, Dyrøy

Dyrøy

Dyrøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Brøstadbotn. The municipality is named after the island of Dyrøya, which is connected with the mainland with the modern Dyrøy Bridge...

 and Tranøy

Tranøy

Tranøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality is situated on the southern coast of the island Senja. The municipal centre is the village of Vangsvik in the east. Stonglandseidet and Å in the west are other population centers. The now abandoned island of Tranøya, with its 18th...

 during his life. In 1901 he took the practical-theological seminary, and could serve as a clergyman. He was a curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 in Ibestad from May 1902 to June 1907, and then vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 in Salangen

Salangen

Salangen is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. The municipality is situated along the Sagfjord, and also includes some inland valleys...

 from June 1907 to 1931. He chaired Salangen's school board from 1903 to 1911, and served as mayor of Salangen municipality from 1904 to his death in 1934.

He was elected to the Parliament of Norway in the 1915 election

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1915

-Results: Liberal Left Party is part of coalition with Conservative Party-References:**...

, representing the constituency Trondenes

Trondenes

Trondenes is a parish and a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. It is located along the Vågsfjorden in the present-day municipality of Harstad. Trondenes includes the majority of the island of Grytøya and part of the island of Hinnøya as well as some smaller islands...

. He was then elected from the constituency Senjen

Senja

Senja is the second largest island in Norway . It is located along the Troms county coastline with Finnsnes as the closest town. Senja is connected to the mainland by the Gisund Bridge. The municipalities located on Senja are Lenvik , Berg, Torsken, and Tranøy...

 in 1918

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1918

-Results: Liberal Left Party is part of coalition with Conservative Party-References:**...

, and from Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 in 1921

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1921

-Results:-References:*...

, 1924

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1924

-Results:-References:*...

, 1927

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1927

-Results:-References:*...

 and 1930

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1930

-Results:*...

. During the last two terms he chaired the parliamentary temperance

Temperance movement

A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...

 group of the Labour Party. He also became known as the person who proposed Christopher Hornsrud

Christopher Hornsrud

Christopher Andersen Hornsrud served as Prime Minister of Norway from January to February 1928. He combined the post of prime minister with that of minister of finance. Although his tenure as Prime Minister was brief, his list of political accomplishments is not...

 as Prime Minister when the Labour Party parliamentary group voted over the question in 1928. The national board had chosen the unwilling Johan Nygaardsvold

Johan Nygaardsvold

Johan Nygaardsvold was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 1935 to 1945 , as head of the cabinet Nygaardsvold.-Political career:...

 with 11 against 6 votes for Hornsrud (so the proposal did not origin with Tønder), but in the parliamentary group Hornsrud was chosen with 41 votes against 13 votes for four other candidates.

Tønder established the newspaper Folkeviljen

Folkeviljen

Folkeviljen is a former Norwegian newspaper. Labour Party organ and was established by parish priest and later Member of Parliament Kristian Tønder in Sjøvegan 1911, and published in Harstad from 1917. Among its later editors were Harald Langhelle, Alfred Skar, Sigurd Simensen, Alfons Johansen and...

, and was its first editor. He died in March 1934.