Carl Severin Bentzen

Who was Carl Severin Bentzen?

Carl Severin Bentzen, often called C. S. Bentzen was a Norwegian tailor and politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties.

He was a son of tailor Wilhelm Julius Bentzen and Sofie Nilson, and learned the trade from his father. He studied further in Kristiania, Copenhagen and Berlin. He completed his Gesellenprüfung in 1904, and acquired burghership in Hønefoss in 1911. He had joined the labour movement in 1904, and was a member of the executive committee of Hønefoss city council from 1910 to 1922, serving as mayor from 1913 to 1915. He founded the first trade union in Ringerike, in 1903, and was also involved in the temperance movement as the county leader of Det Norske Totalavholdsselskap.

He stood for general election several times, first in the single-member constituency Kongsberg og Hønefoss. In the 1912 election, Bentzen was the deputy candidate of J. O. Jarnæs, but the constituency was carried by Nils Gulliksen Berg. In the 1915 election, Bentzen won the first round against Berg with 2,394 against 1,684 votes; but lost the second round with 2,753 against 3,038 votes.