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User talk:Alexeifjodor

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title: User talk:Alexeifjodor


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Antonio Abati

Antonio Abati (c. 1600 – October 1667) was an Italian baroque poet. He was a member of several Italian literary academies, including the Umoristi (the Humorists), where he read his satire Ragguaglio di Parnaso (“Report from Parnassus”), dedicated to the bad poets of the times. Between 1634 and 1638, Abati was in Viterbo, where he made the acquaintance of Salvator Rosa. Rosa was in large part inspired to become a satirist by his example. His satires were first published in Venice in 1651 and went through a number of editions.

Biography
Antonio Abati was born in Gubbio, an Umbrian town in the Papal States, about 1600. Though he was to spend most of his life in Rome and its provinces, Abati's earliest publications indicate a period spent in the Spanish territories of southern Italy.

He moved to Rome in 1631. By early 1636 he was already well-regarded enough to address the Roman Accademia degli Umoristi. It was here on 20 January of that year that he delivered the speech that was shortly to be published as Ragguaglio di Parnaso. A year later he contributed a poem to an anthology celebrating the election of Emperor Ferdinand III as King of the Romans. In 1638 he was in nearby Viterbo, where he began his friendship with Salvator Rosa.

From Rome and its surroundings Abati turned his attention further north. His friendship with Rosa led to several visits to Florence and Tuscany between 1638 and 1649. From 1641 to 1644 he was at the Habsburg court in Austria, where he enjoyed the favor of Ferdinand III and his brother, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, who crowned him poet laureate. This Austrian sojourn was in turn followed by a trip to France and the Low Countries, which he had opportunity to describe in one of his comedies: Il Viaggio (“The Voyage”).

Abati returned to Italy in 1645, and resided mainly in Rome and its provinces. In his final years he enjoyed the patronage of the new papal nephew, Cardinal Flavio Chigi. Cardinal Chigi secured for Abati a series of provincial governorships in the Papal States (Grotte, Recanati and Frascati).

Towards the end of his life, Abati's Tuscan connections eased his final days. Vittoria della Rovere, wife of Ferdinando II de' Medici, gave the poet the use of a villa and farm in Senigallia, near her own ancestral home in Urbino. It was there that Abati died in October 1667. He led a merry life, his activity was well rewarded and he had the protection of powerful men (among whom was Emperor Ferdinand III). For his wit he was surnamed “l'Abbate delle Vivezze e delle Argutezze.” The Emperor Ferdinand III composed an acrostic in Italian in his praise. However, his writings fell out of favor during the Age of Enlightenment, and were strongly criticized by Baretti in his “Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry”.

His major work are the Frascherie, a collection of satires in the form of dialogues, published in Venice in 1651. The most well-known is Pegasino, which attacks the vices of poets pf his time. He The bulk of Abati's poetry was first published posthumously by Giovanni Recaldini in 1671.

Works

 * Ragguaglio di Parnaso contra i poetastri e partigiani delle nationi. Milan, 1638, in-8°;
 * Le Frascherie, fasci tre, a collection of satirical Poems mixed with Prose, Venice, 1651, in-8°;
 * Poesie postume, Bologna, 1671, in-8°;
 * Il Consiglio degli dei (The Council of the Gods), Bologna (1674) – composed in 1660.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Antonio Abati


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Giuseppe Cesare Abba

Giuseppe Cesare Abba (6 October 1838 – 6 November 1910) was an Italian patriot and writer. As a participant on the expedition of i Mille he fought next to Giuseppe Garibaldi in his conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1860.

Biography
He was born in Cairo Montenotte (Liguria, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia/Piedmont).

Abba studied in the Academy of Fine Arts in Genoa, which he left in 1859 when entered a cavalry regiment in Pinerolo. In 1860 he moved to Parma, and then joined Garibaldi's volunteers. He took part in most of the battles which led to the dissolution of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

His literary work is limited to revolutionary memories; after retiring to private life, first at Pisa, then in his native town, he attempted to write a romantic poem in five canti by the title Arrigo. A fervent follower of Manzoni, he then tried to write a historical novel (1875) with Le rive della Bormida nel 1794 ("The Banks of the Bormida in 1794"), with the notes taken in the 1860 expedition, which he did not publish. In 1880 it became Noterelle di uno dei Mille edite dopo vent’anni ("Notes by one of the Thousand twenty years later"), assuming its final title, Da Quarto al Volturno: Noterelle d’uno dei Mille ("From Quarto to Volturno: Notes by one of the Thousand"), only in 1891.

This work was his magnum opus, being released thanks to Giosuè Carducci, to whom Abba had sent it on the urging of an old revolutionary friend, Sclavo. Carducci was at that time considering writing a work on the life of Garibaldi, and encouraged the survivors of the campaign to give him historical testimonies. When he had read the Noterelle, he appreciated it so much that gave it to the editor Zanichelli to be published, telling the author that now he might never write the biography of the hero.

Abba quickly acquired fame, so much so that he became first teacher at the secondary school at Faenza, then principal of the technological institute of Brescia, where he worked until his death.

Even though he produced other works based on the expedition, none became as celebrated as the Noterelle. He also wrote poetry and short stories, but without much success.

Works

 * Le rive della Bormida nel 1794 (1875)
 * Noterelle di uno dei Mille edite dopo vent’anni (1880)
 * A Diary of One of Garibaldi's Thousand translated by E. R. P. Vincent. London: Oxford University Press, 1962
 * Da Quarto al Volturno. Noterelle d’uno dei Mille (1880–1891)
 * Storia dei Mille ("Story of the Thousand", 1904)
 * Vita di Nino Bixio ("The Life of Nino Bixio", 1905)
 * Cose garibaldine ("Garibaldian Things")
 * Romagna
 * Cose vedute ("Things I Have Seen")

Commemoration
The Italian destroyer ITALIAN DESTROYER Giuseppe Cesare Abba was named for him.

title: Giuseppe Cesare Abba


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Aleardo Aleardi

Aleardo Aleardi (14 November 1812 – 17 July 1878), born Gaetano Maria, was an Italian poet who belonged to the so-called Neo-romanticists.

Biography
Aleardo was born in Verona in 1812. He was known for being an active part of the Risorgimento movement. In 1848 he was invited by Daniele Manin to go to Paris to garner support for the Venetian Republic. He was arrested twice: at Mantua in 1852 and at Josephstadt in Bohemia in 1859. After the unification of Italy, he became a member of parliament. In 1873 he became a senator. He later became a professor of aesthetics at Florence, where he died in 1878.

Aleardo Aleardi, whose name was originally Gaetano Maria Aleardi, was born in Verona in 1812 to Maria Channels and Count Giorgio Aleardi. After studying law at the University of Padua together with friends John Meadows and Arnaldo Fusinato, he returned to Verona with an interest in poetry and art criticism. Among his earliest compositions was Marriage (1842), an exaltation of marriage as an expression of civilization, and the Arnalda Roca in 1844. This poem had the historical protagonist of a young woman who dies defending her honor: here we find the search for theatrical effects and dramatic color that is typical of the entire oeuvre of Aleardi. His first success was achieved in 1846 with the two Letters to Mary, in verse, in which the poet addresses a friend proposing a platonic love. It was an opportunity to express his belief in the immortality of the soul and pour out his emotional suffering in a spirit of romanticism.

title: Aleardo Aleardi


text: User talk:66.220.100.4

title: User talk:66.220.100.4


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Dominic Pozzoni

Dominic Pozzoni, (22 December 1861 – 20 February 1924), was titular Bishop of Tavia and the third Apostolic Vicar of Hong Kong. He was a member of the Milan Foreign Missions (M.F.M.).

Life
Dominic Pozzoni was born in Paderno d'Adda, Italy 22 December 1861. In 1882 he entered the Lombardy Seminary for Foreign Missions in Milan. He was ordained a priest on 1 March 1885 and arrived in Hong Kong on 19 December 1885. Pozzoni was assigned to Sai Kung to assist Monsignor Luigi Piazzoli.

Pozzoni was appointed vicar apostolic on 26 May, 1905, and consecrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Hong Kong) in 1906.

In 1921, Bishop Pozzoni requested the Maryknoll Fathers to take over staffing St. Louis School. Some of the boys were orphans while the rest were remanded by the Hong Kong government, the government giving a small monthly grant for each student. The Maryknoll Fathers renamed the school 'St Louis Industrial School' and equipped it with a print shop to teach the boys a trade.

In 1923 Pozzoni suggested that Maryknoll Sisters staff the anticipated Kowloon Hospital. However, the government withdrew its offer in the face of objections by English residents who opposed the sisters both for their being American and Catholic.

He died in the French Hospital in Hong Kong 20 February 1924.

title: Dominic Pozzoni


text:
User talk:VaNatsFan

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title: User talk:VaNatsFan


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User talk:Stegeman

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Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Kingturtle 08:10, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:Stegeman


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Freia (chocolate)

Freia is a Norwegian chocolate brand. The brand is known for Freia Melkesjokolade and Kvikk Lunsj, as well as for other candy and dessert products. The company was acquired by Mondelez International in 1993.

History
Freia was founded by Olaf Larsen (1867–1920) and Fredrik Wilhelm Hjorth Christensen (1851–) in 1889. Larsen had been experimenting with chocolate for some time and Christensen arranged supplies with cocoa suppliers and paid for machines and the required facilities.

A few years later in 1892, the operation was bought by aspiring entrepreneur and businessman Johan Throne Holst (1868–1946). In his first six years, he grew the enterprise from 7 to 60 employees, and incorporated Freia as a public company in 1898. Holst realized that there was a potential market for edible milk chocolate, in addition to the dark chocolate and other minor products Freia were producing at the time. Holst built up Freia to be Norway's leading chocolate manufacturer.

By the turn of the century, Freia was the leading Norwegian brand in sweets. Since its inception the factory has been in the Rodeløkka neighborhood in the borough of Grünerløkka in Oslo.

In 1916, based on the success in Norway, the Throne-Holst family founded the chocolate factory Marabou in Sundbyberg outside of Stockholm in Sweden and in 1943, moved to the present location in Upplands Väsby. The name Freia (or Freja) could not be used due to a conflicting trademark in Sweden. The name Marabou was chosen instead and is based on the marabou stork which was part of Freia's logo at the time. Production started in 1919, due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by World War I.

In 1990, Freia bought all the shares in Marabou. On 12 October 1992, Norsk Hydro, Procordia and Finnish Paulig sold their shares in Freia Marabou to the Philip Morris company Kraft General Foods, a total of 55% of the shares. A few weeks later, Hershey Foods sold its shares (18.6%), giving Philip Morris full control of Freia. On 22 April 1993, the Ministry of Trade and Industry granted Kraft General Foods Holding Norway Inc a license to take over all the shares in Freia Marabou AS. Freia was purchased by Kraft Foods Nordic for NOK 3 billion.

After Kraft's acquisition, most of the operation remains at Freia's factory in Oslo. Parts of production have been outsourced to Lithuania, Estonia and Sweden, following restructuring from the parent company in the mid-2000s. Since 2012, the owner has been Mondelēz International.

Products
The company's flagship product has since then been the milk chocolate candy bar, Freia Melkesjokolade. On the basis of this product, Freia produces several other candy bars, with added nuts, raisins, cookies and Daim pieces. The brand has constantly been marketed in a national romantic spirit – as the essence of everything that is Norwegian. Their slogan is Et lite stykke Norge (A little piece of Norway).

Additional sources

 * Ibsen, Hilde (1998) Et lite stykke Norge : Freia 100 år (Tano Aschehoug) ISBN 82-518-3683-2,

title: Freia (chocolate)


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Anders Jahre

Anders August Jahre (28 May 1891 – 26 February 1982) was a Norwegian shipping magnate and philanthropist. After his death, it was discovered that he had undertaken tax evasion on a large scale; however, his legacy continues in the form of two foundations, humanitarian and medical, that each award annual cash prizes.

Early life and education
Anders August Jahre was born in Sandar on 28 May 1891, the son of farmer Jørgen Hansen Jahre and Anne Susanne Gulliksen Bøe.

He was educated in law, and worked as a lawyer in Sandefjord from 1916 until 1928.

Shipping career
Jahre became involved in the whaling industry, and he founded the whaling company A/S Kosmos in 1928, operating out of Sandefjord. He also established Jahres Kjemiske Fabrikker, a processor of whale blubber, as well as establishing a passenger ferry line between Oslo and Kiel.

In 1939 Pankos Operating Company SA was incorporated as a Panamanian corporation. Throughout his lifetime, Jahre steadfastly maintained that he had no ownership interest in Pankos and other foreign companies. Only after his death was it established that Jahre had controlled these entities from incorporation, and that from the 1950s onward he had been the sole owner. During the 1950s the Norwegian authorities commenced an investigation of Jahre's connections to Pankos and subsidiaries. In response and in order to conceal his ownership interest, Jahre claimed that these companies were owned by Aristotle Onassis. The investigation was put on hold when Jahre suggested that it might be possible for Norwegian companies controlled by Jahre to purchase the companies' floating assets from Onassis at market price. Such ships would in that manner become Norwegian-flagged vessels, a goal that at the time was considered important by the Norwegian authorities. This solution was accepted and as a result large sums were transferred abroad to companies ostensibly owned by Onassis. The net result of the transaction, however, was that the cash generated by the sale of the ships was consolidated with Pankos's other assets and became a part of the capital of Jahre's hidden foreign fortune – a fortune that grew substantially in the years thereafter.

To conceal his connection with Pankos, Jahre secretly changed the name of the company in 1958 to Continental Trust Company (CTC). A further step intended to counter speculations regarding Jahre's ownership of CTC was taken in 1976, when the shares of the company were transferred to a Bahamian (later Caymanian) trust called Continental Foundation.

Philanthropy
Jahre was a major philanthropist. He contributed significantly to the development of the city of Sandefjord. He financed the building of the new town hall which included a library as well as combined cinema, theatre, and concert hall. He also built the Park Hotel, a city museum, and a new crematorium.

In 1948, he established a British institute at the University of Oslo, five years later establishing the Anders Jahre Foundation for the Promotion of Science and setting up awards which are still awarded annually today.

In 1966 he established the Anders Jahres Humanitarian Foundation.

Honours and awards
Jahre was appointed commander of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1950, which was raised to commander with star (Kommandør med stjerne) in 1962.

He was awarded an honorary professorship at the University of Oslo in 1961.

During his lifetime, a statue of himself was erected in front of the Sandefjord Town Hall, a building for which he had provided the funding.

Personal life
Jahre had no children.

He acquired a magnificent mansion in Sandefjord, as well as the 17th-century castle and estate of Osbyholm in Scania, where he created a large art collection.

Death and legacy
Jahre died on 26 February 1982 in Sandefjord. At the time the value of the assets remaining in his foreign fortune totalled some 80 million U.S. dollars.

The son of Odd Gleditsch Sr., Odd Gleditsch Jr., said in 2017 that his father, who had been a close friend of Jahre, was convinced that he had been trying to find a way to repatriate his fortune back to Norway before he died.

Legal issues
After his death there was much controversy surrounding alleged tax fraud, and hidden funds in overseas accounts. In 1984, the Norwegian government put forward a tax claim against the Jahre estate. A series of legal proceedings in the 2000s succeeded in returning part of the fortune to Norway from accounts on the Cayman Islands.

In 1999 Britain's highest court (sitting as the Privy Council) confirmed that Continental Foundation was not a validly established trust.

Because documents relating to CTC had surfaced during an audit of Jahre's businesses in 1979, the tax authorities initiated a new round of investigations. The investigations resulted in a tax claim being levied against Jahre in 1983 in an amount in excess of 335 million Norwegian kroner, the largest tax claim that had ever been assessed in Norway for tax avoidance. The tax claim was contested and eventually accepted in 1993.

In 1994 the administrator of Jahre's estate came into possession of documents that confirmed Jahre's unlimited control over the above-referenced foreign assets, as well as Jahre's many efforts, over a period of more than 40 years, to conceal that control from the authorities.

At the time of Jahre's death in 1982 the value of the assets remaining in his foreign fortune totalled some 80 million U.S. dollars. There is no other known instance in Norway of tax avoidance on such a large scale or over such an extended period.

In 1998 Kosmos AS asserted that it was the true owner of the foreign assets. Litigation ensued, but in 2003 Kosmos AS, by its owner Eikland AS/Morits Skaugen, discontinued the proceeding.

Two Norwegian judgements, from 2002 and 2003 respectively, reflect that Jahre had ultimate control and effective ownership of the above-referenced foreign fortune during his lifetime.

Through three separate settlements with, respectively, Jahre's main banking connection (Lazard) and certain Cayman interests, the Jahre estate recovered approximately 720 million Norwegian kroner. The amount would have been substantially higher but for the actions of an expatriate Norwegian, Thorleif Monsen, who in the 1970s was based in the Cayman Islands. In that period, Monsen undertook a fiduciary role v.a.v. Jahre and his foreign fortune and acted as the straw man who, among other things, assisted with the transfer of the shares of CTC to Continental Foundation in 1976. After Jahre's death in 1982 Monsen took advantage of his fiduciary position to embezzle substantial assets from the foreign fortune. Those assets were used by Monsen and his children for private investments and personal expenses, as well as to finance legal challenges to the Jahre estate's efforts to recover and repatriate the foreign fortune.

Anders Jahre science foundation and science awards
In 1953, Jahre donated one million Norwegian kroner to the University of Oslo, and later gave other endowments, which were used to establish the Anders Jahre Foundation for the Promotion of Science (Anders Jahres Fond til vitenskapens fremme). Half of the foundation's funds are earmarked for medical science and research, with 25 per cent each going to the legal profession and the chemical and technical fields. He also determined that that part of the funds should to be used to award an annual medical prize for outstanding international work.

The Anders Jahre's Award for Medical Research (Anders Jahres medisinske pris) was bestowed for the first time in 1960, and is awarded annually by the university, worth NOK 1,000,000 in 2024. In 1965, the inaugural Anders Jahre Prize for Young Scientists (Anders Jahres pris for yngre forskere) was awarded, which is as of 2024 a grant of NOK 400,000. All previous winners are listed on the university website.

Anders Jahre Humanitarian Foundation and culture awards
The Anders Jahres Humanitære Stiftelse was established by two donations by Jahre on 28 December 1966, providing capital of NOK 20 million. In early and then late 1973, he awarded two gift certificates of 20,000 shares in A/S Kosmos (market value around NOK 17 million), and a further 20,000 shares (market value around NOK 20 million).

The purpose of the foundation is to support initiatives of a humanitarian, cultural, and social nature in Norway, with particular emphasis on businesses in Sandefjord and Vestfold counties, with special consideration to elder care. The board makes a distribution each year in June.

Since 1990, the foundation has awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize (Anders Jahres kulturpris), with the amount dependent on what the board determines for each individual award. It is an honorary reward to Norwegian or foreign individuals or institutions who have made a significant contribution, in particular to Norwegian cultural life. From 1996, additional prizes for younger artists were included in some years.

Winners of the award include:
 * 1990 Asbjørn Aarnes, historian, and Nils Aas, sculptor
 * 1991 Mariss Jansons, Latvian conductor
 * 1992 Benny Motzfeldt, artist, and Halldis Moren Vesaas, poet and translator
 * 1993 Robert Levin, pianist, and Stein Mehren, poet and essayist
 * 1994 Jakob Weidemann, artist
 * 1995 Ingrid Bjoner, soprano singer, and Jan Garbarek, jazz saxophonist
 * 1996 Liv Ullmann, actress; junior prize to Gjertrud Jynge
 * 1997 Arne Nordheim, composer, and Gordon Hølmebakk, writer and editor; junior prize to Gisle Kverndokk, composer, and Cathrine Grøndahl, poet
 * 1998 Bergljot Hobæk Haff, writer and teacher, and Bentein Baardson, actor and theatre director; junior prize to Nikolaj Frobenius, writer, and Herborg Kråkevik, singer and actress
 * 1999 Leif Ove Andsnes, musician, Solveig Kringlebotn, soprano, and Truls Mørk, musician
 * 2000 Liv Dommersnes, actress, and Frans Widerberg, artist; junior prize to Andrea Bræin Hovig and Per Enoksson
 * 2001 Knut Skram, baritone singer, and Knut Ødegård, artist; junior prize to Kari Postma Sundan and Steinar Opstad, poet
 * 2002 Tone Vigeland, jewellery designer, and Jan Groth; junior prize to Synnøve Øyen and Tomas Ramberg
 * 2003 Sverre Fehn and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, architects
 * 2004 Ingvar Ambjørnsen, writer, and Geir Kjetsaa, academic; junior prize to Bjarte Breiteig, writer, and Alexander Rybak, actor and musician
 * 2005 Håkon Bleken and Jens Johannessen, artists; junior prize to Sverre Koren Bjertnæs and Christoffer Fjeldstad
 * 2006 Jon Fosse, author, Svein Sturla Hungnes, actor and theatre director, and Toralv Maurstad, actor
 * 2007 Karin Krog, jazz singer, and Arve Tellefsen, violinist; junior prize to Trondheimsolistene
 * 2008 Ulla-Mari Brantenberg, artist, and Peter Opsvik, industrial designer; junior prize to Tuva Gonsholt and Daniel Rybakken
 * 2009 Mari Boine, singer, and Espen Giljane, ballet dancer and teacher
 * 2010 Soon-Mi Chung and Stepan Barratt-Due, musicians, and Tom Sandberg, art photographer; junior prize to Barratt Due Institute of Music junior orchestra and Unn Fahlstrøm
 * 2011 Kristian Blystad and Bård Breivik, sculptors; junior prize to Kristine Roald Sandøy and Signe Løvland Solberg
 * 2012 Jan Erik Vold, writer and musician, and Kari and Kjell Risvik, translators; junior prize to Kaja Schjerven and Christina Gómez Baggethun
 * 2013 Lise Fjeldstad, actress, and Stefan Herheim, opera director; junior prize to Birgitte Larsen and Sigrid Strøm Reibo, theatre director
 * 2014 Kari Nissen Brodtkorb and Kristin Jarmund, architects; junior prize to Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken and Johanne Borthne/Vilhelm Christensen
 * 2015 Torill Kove, filmmaker, and Leonard Rickhard, painter; junior prize to Izer Aliu, filmmaker and Johanne Hestvold, artist
 * 2022 Nils Gaup, Deeyah Khan, Margreth Olin, and Joachim Trier, filmmakers (2022)

title: Anders Jahre


text: File:PAST motopomp flame.jpg

title: File:PAST motopomp flame.jpg


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Louis Piazzoli

Louis Piazzoli, PIME (12 May 1845 – 26 December 1904) was the Apostolic Vicar of Hong Kong from January 11, 1895 to 1904.

Biography
Born in Bergamo, Italy, Piazzoli was ordained as a priest on 1 September 1868.

Piazzoli arrived in Hong Kong in 1869. He was one of the first missionaries to reach Tai Po. In 1870, he left the mission station in Ting Kok and started his missionary work in Sham Chung, helping the farmers build a dam.

Appointed Vicar Apostolic of Hong Kong on 11 January 1895 and ordained Bishop on 19 May 1895. He died in Hong Kong.

Piazoli's remains were return to Italy, but return to Hong Kong in 2014 to rest at the crypt at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

title: Louis Piazzoli


text:
Hilmar Reksten

Hilmar August Reksten (29 October 1897 – 1 July 1980) was a Norwegian shipping magnate. In the autumn of 1973 he was counted among the world's richest men, possessing a fleet worth about £300,000,000. At his death in 1980, all was lost; he left behind a debt of about £100,000,000.

Background
Hilmar Reksten grew up in a small flat at Nordnes, a central quarter of Bergen. He was the eldest of three siblings; there was a younger brother called Hjalmar (1900–1961), and a sister, Sofie. Their mother, Helene Monsen Søndervåg (1869–1902), died when Reksten was only four years old. His father, Erik Reksten (1873–1963), was a stoker and later engineer, spending most of his time out to sea. He sent home money for the children's support. It was not until 1907 that Reksten senior had saved up enough money to stay more at home with his motherless children. The same year he married Hanna Gregoriussen, whom Reksten later began calling "mother", and who created a good home for her stepchildren. She gave birth to a son, Karl (1909–1999).

Reksten did well at school, and in his free time joined the local buekorps, Nordnæs Bataillon. He had his heart set on a career in shipping, but World War I caused difficult times in that field. In 1917 he started doing unpaid volunteer work for a new shipping firm. Reksten's talent was soon recognized, and he was given a paid job; but his employer went bankrupt in 1919, caused by the recession in shipping following World War I.

Early years in shipping
Reksten studied economy in Cologne helped by 5.000 NOK granted as a scholarship from Hans Westfal-Larsen's shipping company. At the end of 1921, however, the remaining sum was practically worthless, due to the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. Still, Reksten eked out an existence during the following three years, writing paid letters from Germany that were published in Bergens Tidende, and thus finishing his studies, returning to Norway in 1924. He had lived in Trajanstrasse in Cologne's old quarter, which roused his lifelong interest in Ancient Rome. When he started his own company in 1929, he named it Trajan after the Roman emperor. His first ship, Doris, was also renamed Trajan. His father, who had been unemployed for over a year, became the ship's first engineer. Reksten ran his firm from Minde, a residential part of Bergen, residing there until 1932. In August 1939 his wife Bjørg Elisabeth Johannessen died, only 36 years old, and after only 14 years of marriage. At that time the family resided in a villa outside of Bergen, with space also for Bjørg Elisabeth's father, while a separate building housed the shipping firm.

Wartime
Reksten showed a remarkable capacity for investments; by the time of World War II the widower had six ships in operation. At the German invasion of Norway, he was drafted for military service at the naval centre of Marineholmen in Bergen. In the morning of 9 April 1940 he returned there, dressed in civilian clothes, got past the German guards there and smuggled the Norwegian commander out, along with important, secret papers. In the following days he conspired further, building up a network called "the Reksten circle" of people from the resistance movement. Gradually fearing for his life, but also because he wanted to continue his work within shipping, he chose to leave his five children behind while he himself fled to England. He went on to New York City with the intention of building up Nortraship in the United States. Five of his ships were abroad and could help the Allied with the war effort. However one of them, Hadrian, was stuck in Dakar and later in German service, until sunk by the Soviets outside Sevastopol in May 1944.

Reksten ended in conflict with more of Nortraship's leaders. In the autumn of 1940 he transferred his ship Octavian to a company registered in Panama and run by himself, thus breaking the rule that all Norwegian ships be controlled by Nortraship, albeit he claimed to have obtained a dispensation from Norwegian authorities. He was not fired, but transferred to the accounts department. In September 1941 he returned to London, where he cooperated closely with prime minister in exile, Johan Nygaardsvold, foreign minister Trygve Lie and other government members. He negotiated with the British Ministry of War Transport about Norwegian interests and transfer of British tonnage as replacement for Norwegian loss of ships. There were protests against him interfering with Nortraship's interests, and in February 1942 he was returned to New York to evaluate Nortraship and its leaders there. Reksten was particularly critical to the Head of Nortraship Øivind Lorentzen, and felt himself to be more competent at running Nortraship. Instead he was employed at the Nortraship office in Montreal, negotiating with American authorities about renewals of the Norwegian fleet, repairs and indemnity.

Since 1941 he had been Head of the London-based board of Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani. He left for Svalbard in June 1943 on behalf of the company and as a representative of the army, where he was an officer. On Svalbard Reksten, being fluent in German, was permitted to join an expedition meant to conquer a cottage functioning as a German weather station. The expedition succeeded, as the five Germans stationed there had fled in advance; but while Reksten was on guard outside the cottage, a German submarine surfaced in the bay, opening fire at the Norwegians. Reksten was unhurt though and returned to England.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean a number of times during World War II, Reksten was well aware of the pressure faced by the Norwegian sailors. He made sure that their families in Norway received the sailors' pay throughout the war. His concern for their welfare was genuine. Three of his four ships in Allied traffic were sunk during World War II, and in August 1943 he applied for indemnity paid in advance. He received £70 000, and invested in a British steam ship, Marsden. The Brits accepted this, provided Marsden sailed under British flag.

Postwar
After the war he kept expanding his business, and in 1974 the company had ships carrying. At this point Reksten’s was the third largest shipping company in Norway - second only to Bergesen and Jahre - and thereby also one of the largest in the world. Reksten's business principle was simple: He refused long-term contracts, presuming that at intervals, political crises would cause an increase in freight rates. For a long period he was proved right. Both when the Korean War broke out in 1950 and the Suez Crisis in 1956, Reksten profited. The fact that he, between each crisis, was on the verge of bankruptcy, did not in the least alter his conviction. His "Norwegian period" began in 1963 when he placed an order of seven large tank ships, worth 450 million kroner, with Akers mekaniske verksted (= Aker's mechanical workshop), 80% financed by his bank. It was even uncertain if the ships would find commissions when built. "But I did not have to show a bank guarantee," he boasted. "Because I refused to do so." He stood ready with 14 super tankers when the Suez Canal was closed in 1967. In 1968 Reksten placed an order for yet another seven supertankers from Aker, the largest ships the world had seen so far. He contacted other Norwegian shipping magnates, suggesting that they merge into one giant shipping firm. The others withdrew from the plan though, realizing that Reksten intended to dominate the colossus.

In 1970 Reksten signed the shipping contract of all times, when Libya cut down on oil production, while Nigeria was in chaos, and Syria closed the oil pipeline from the Middle East to the Mediterranean. Twelve of his supertankers were now hired out to British Petroleum under a contract providing Reksten with a net profit of 500 million kroner. The later "Reksten-case" originated in this giant sum, which was illegally transferred from Norway and hidden in secret "mailbox companies" abroad. To him, the profit was his, and his alone, and privately he had also ventilated the opinion that the tax policy of the Norwegian Labour party made it necessary to remove funds from Norway. Due to this action however, the Reksten empire had few funds to rely on when the freight rates dropped dramatically from 1971 onwards. The market was so slow that five of Reksten's supertankers were laid up, while he was forced to sell out another two. He still had considerable orders placed at Akers mekaniske. This firm was worried to such a degree that it was suggested to declare Reksten bankrupt; but in the winter of 1972/73, freight rates went up again, helped by an increase in the import to USA, as well as fear of rising oil prices.

Bankruptcy
Reksten's declared goal was to become the world's greatest shipping magnate before turning 80, which would happen in 1977. This agenda seems to have reduced his sound judgment to a level where he bought the fleet of Zapata, formerly of shipowner Erling Dekke Næss, in the spring of 1973 for $208 million - 750 million kroner. Rather a triumph for Reksten, Næss being the one who had him removed from Nortraship for irregularities back during World War II. The purchase however was paid for by the profit Reksten had illegally removed from Norway, resulting in him being forced to deny that he was the actual owner. His actions later in 1973 reflect an almost maniacal streak, when he placed an order with Akers mekaniske of seven ships worth 2.3 billion kroner, and started imagining tank ships of one million tons. In the autumn of 1973 he controlled the largest fortune ever owned by a Norwegian. The press celebrated him as one of the world's most successful investors; but in most of Norwegian economic life he and his methods were generally disliked. Even Akers mekaniske that had delivered most of his fleet, frowned upon him. He had fallen out with the five children from his first marriage with Bjørg Elisabeth. From 1952 until his death he was married to Carol Montgomery, with whom he had one child, Grace Reksten, his sole heir.

The same year his empire started crumbling. Reksten was hit hard by the 1973 oil crisis. The main problem was that many other tank magnates had begun to share his optimism, expecting a further increase in freight rates. He was forced to cancel his billion contract with Aker, resulting in a fine of 320 million kroner. He barely avoided bankruptcy in 1976, by fetching in 100 million kroner from abroad, and have the Norwegian state guarantee for a loan of almost one billion kroner in return for taking over a great portion of the company’s stocks.

In 1979 he was tried in Bergen courthouse for tax fraud, but acquitted on all eight points except one. Reksten was at the time badly marked by his cancer. The following year he died of his disease, was declared bankrupt post mortem, while the bankruptcy proceedings went on until 1993. After his death it was easier to trace the hidden fortune abroad. The accountancy firm Ernst & Young estimated the size of this fortune to around 213 million kroner. A compromise in 1990 with sole heiress Grace Reksten Skaugen put an end to the hunt for the hidden means: 60 million kroner were transferred, along with a health centre on Lanzarote with an estimated value of 10-12 million kroner. Though, a relatively small amount of his money was put into a trust account, for his grandchildren, in 1973. This was the result of a lawsuit between Hilmar and his daughter, Astrid. Years later allegations were made that Astrid herself was complicit with her husband, in an embezzlement scheme wherein the children never received any of the benefits from that trust income or its account and the living children were left with pennies on the dollar when they finally gained control of the funds.

The Reksten Case
In 2014 Bergens Tidende said that "No other case in Norway can be compared to the Reksten Case, says journalist and author Erling Borgen. He labels Reksten a tax cheat of international dimensions. – Paradoxically enough, Reksten was 'the people's ship owner', while he hoodwinked the people of Norway".

Among the general population of Bergen, he was well-liked. In 2014 Bergens Tidende said that "When the Dagsrevyen reporter published a book about the Reksten Case, then 'Bergen [going] to war against Erling Borgen', wrote VG on the front page November 7, 1981".

Charity
The lord mayor in Bergen, Nils Handal, asked in 1951 Reksten to help establish Festspillene i Bergen, which were held for the first time in 1953. Reksten contributed financially and was also head of its board for five years. He donated considerable sums to the erection of the museum that now houses Rolf Stenersen's art collection in Bergen, as well as spending around 7.5 million kroner to purchase grounds and houses around the planned concert hall, Grieghallen, so that the construction works got started.

In 1967, when the school ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl risked being sold out of the country, Reksten bought the ship and made sure that it remained in Bergen. He supported the Norwegian institute in Rome financially. In 1971 he established a charity fund. Naturally, there was little activity after his bankruptcy; but into the 1990s things started improving, and today Rekstensamlingene (the Reksten collections) are part of Bergen's cultural scene.

Marriage and children
Hilmar Reksten married firstly 1925 Bjørg Elisabeth Reksten (1903-1939) and had five children:
 * Tore Reksten (1930–1957).
 * Rolf Reksten (1932–1999).
 * Astrid Reksten (1935–2020).
 * Audun Reksten (1936–2007).
 * Bjørg Nora Reksten (1939–2006).

He married secondly 1952 Carol Mowinckel, née Montgomery (1922-1990), widow of shipping magnate Jens Gran Mowinckel (1918–1950), and had one daughter. In 1965 he also adopted her two children from her first marriage: Reksten's daughter Astrid Reksten moved to the United States after marrying another Norwegian man Sigurd Hoyer. The couple had five children and eventually divorced in 1987. Astrid died in 2020. Sadly two of her own sons also died, both at very young ages. On June 3, 2022 the Norwegian Newspaper AftenPosten ran a long feature article in their weekend magazine, "A-Magasinet" based on three days' worth of interviews with Astrid and Sigurd's youngest child, Richard. The article reveals that Hilmar Reksten had left his grandchildren a large sum of money in a trust in 1973, and that Astrid and Sigurd secretly broke into the trust and stole nearly all of the money it contained. Following the article's publication Richard Hoyer wrote two Kindle books about the family history. The first was title The Poisoned Well and was his first hand account of discovering the full story behind the theft of the trust left to him and his siblings, while the second was titled The Enlightened Self Interest of Hilmar Reksten and was the first English language biography of Hilmar Reksten ever written.
 * Christine Mowinckel Reksten (1945–1993).
 * Johan Ludwig Mowinckel Reksten (born 1948).
 * Grace Montgomery Reksten Skaugen (born 1953). She is married to Morits Skaugen, Jr.

Hilmar Reksten '' s great grandson Maddox Reksten, grandson of Astrid Reksten plays for American rock band Sarah and the Safe Word.

Film and books about Hilmar Reksten
The Enlightened Self Interest of Hilmar Reksten By Richard Hoyer (Hilmar Reksten's grandson) was published on Kindle in 2023. It was the first English language biography of Hilmar Reksten.

The Poisoned Well By Richard Hoyer (Hilmar Reksten's grandson) was published on Kindle in 2023. It is the full story of Hoyer's discovery that his parents had stolen the trust fund left to him and his siblings by Hilmar Reksten.

Hilmar Reksten’s Dagbok 1940-1945: “Hilmar Reksten’s Diary 1940-1945.” This Norwegian-language volume is Hilmar’s own diary detailing his resistance activities for Norway. It was published by H. Aschehoug & Co in 1980.

Penger i Paradis: “Money in Paradise” was written in Norwegian by Trond Gram and was published in 2017. This book details the government bailout of Reksten, his criminal prosecution, and the creditors’ global 20-year hunt for his hidden billion-dollar fortune.

Slik Var Det: “This is How It Was” was written in Norwegian by Auden Reksten, the author’s uncle, who helped run Reksten Shipping for many years. It was published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in 1983.

Hilmar Rekstens Eventyr: “Hilmar Reksten’s Adventure” was written in Norwegian by Erling Borgen, who was one of the reporters covering Reksten’s criminal trial in 1979. This book details Hilmar’s huge financial scandal and the resulting criminal trial. It was published by J.W. Cappelens Forlag in 1981.

Reksten was written in Norwegian by Kristian Ilner. It is a complete biography of Reksten’s life and was published by Vigmostad & Bjorke in 2006.

In 2014 Keiseren ["the emperor"]—a documentary directed by Lars Skorpen—was released.

A TV documentary on Reksten's life is being produced (2012), based on material from the files of photographer Lene Løtvedt.

title: Hilmar Reksten