Laurits S. Swenson

Laurits Selmer Swenson was born in New Sweden, Minnesota to Norwegian immigrant parents. His father, Swen Swenson was a Minnesota State Representative. From 1895 to 1897 Swenson served on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Swenson also pursued a business career, serving as vice president of Union State Bank and president of the Wiprud Land & Colonization Company, an effort to attract European immigrants to settle in Minnesota. ==Diplomatic career==

In 1897, Swenson started a diplomatic career when he was appointed Minister to Denmark. He served in Copenhagen until 1905. In this post, Swenson negotiated the terms for the sale of the Danish West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands). In 1909, he was appointed Minister to Switzerland, where he served until 1911. Swenson served as Minister to Norway from 1911 to 1913. In 1921 Swenson was again appointed Minister to Norway, and he held this position until 1930. Swenson was a popular diplomat, particularly in Norway, maybe due to his Norwegian ancestry. In 1929 Time Magazine wrote: "Europeans have always marveled that the diplomatic and consular representatives of the U. S. are so often of the same strain as the people to whom they are accredited". In 1925, Swenson received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, on behalf of the US vice president Charles Gates Dawes. The prize was shared with the British secretary of state Austen Chamberlain. In 1931, Swenson was named Ambassador to the Netherlands, where he served until 1934. He then retired and moved back to Norway where his only daughter lived. Swenson died in Oslo on November 4, 1947. ==See also==

• Laurits Selmer Swenson biography, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, accessed December 13, 2012