Ditlev Gothard Monrad

Ditlev Gothard Monrad
File:Ditlev Gothard Monrad.jpg
Council President of Denmark
In office 31 December 1863 – 11 July 1864
Monarch	Christian IX
Preceded by	Carl Christian Hall
Succeeded by	Christian Albrecht Bluhme
Personal details
Born	(1811-11-24)24 November 1811 Copenhagen
Died	Nykøbing Falster
Political party	National Liberal Party

Ditlev Gothard Monrad (24 November 1811 – 28 March 1887) was a Danish politician and bishop of Lolland-Falster.

Monrad studied theology and became a Lutheran minister, while beginning to participate in politics. He became leader of the National Liberal Party and spearheaded the movement towards a constitutional Denmark after 1848, the year in which he became a bishop. In the following year, he became a member of Parliament.

As Council President (1863-1864), he was the Danish state leader during the early part of Second Schleswig War, against the German Confederation led by Otto von Bismarck, which resulted in the Peace of Vienna.

After this war, a depressed and disillusioned Monrad emigrated to New Zealand. After sending his sons to Nelson and other districts of New Zealand to scout for land, he chose to settle in Palmerston North in the North Island of New Zealand. He bought 482 acres (1.95 km²) of land at Karere Block. He first lived in a small hut and then erected a timber house and started clearing bushland. He and his family farmed cows and sheep.

Monrad helped the New Zealand Company to find suitable settlers from Scandinavia and helped many Danish immigrants find land to settle on, most notably in the area of Dannevirke.

His work was disturbed by Māori rioters, members of the Hauhau cult under Chief Titokowaru. Monrad buried his belongings and went with the family to Wellington and then went back to Denmark in 1869. His sons Viggo and Johannes later returned to Karere to become farmers.

Before leaving New Zealand, he presented to the New Zealand government a precious collection of sketches and etchings by old European masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Albrecht Dürer and van Dyck. They are now part of the collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and are occasionally on display there.

Monrad Intermediate is a Palmerston North intermediate school named after Monrad.

Political offices
Preceded by New office	Kultus Minister of Denmark 22 March 1848 – 15 November 1848	Succeeded by Johan Nicolai Madvig
Preceded by Carl Christian Hall	Kultus Minister of Denmark 6 May 1859 – 2 December 1859	Succeeded by Vilhem August Borgen
Preceded by Vilhem August Borgen	Kultus Minister of Denmark 24 February 1860 - 31 December 1863	Succeeded by Christian Thorning Engelstoft
Preceded by Johan Christian von Jessen	Interior Minister of Denmark 24 February 1860 – 15 September 1861	Succeeded by Peter Martin Orla Lehmann
Preceded by Carl Christian Hall	Council President of Denmark 31 December 1863 – 11 July 1864	Succeeded by Christian Albrecht Bluhme
Preceded by Carl Emil Fenger	Finance Minister of Denmark 31 December 1863 – 11 July 1864	Succeeded by Christian Nathan David
Preceded by Carl Christian Hall	Foreign Minister of Denmark 31 December 1863 – 8 January 1864	Succeeded by George Quaade
Preceded by Carl Christian Hall	Minister for Holstein and Lauenburg 31 December 1863 – 11 July 1864	Succeeded by Christian Albrecht Bluhme

Literature

• Johan Schioldann-Nielsen, The life of D.G. Monrad (1811-1887) : manic-depressive disorder and political leadership, Odense University Press, 1988. ISBN 87-7492-668-3.
• G.C. Petersen, D.G. Monrad : Scholar, statesman, priest and New Zealand pioneer and his New Zealand descendants, Kerslake, Billens & Humphrey. 1965.

External links

• 50 Ministers of Education - From the Danish Ministry of Education.
• The Monrad Collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• A biography
• Biography in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand