Poul Steenstrup (10 December 1772 – 9 October 1864) was a Norwegian industrialist and politician. He was the founder of the Kongsberg Arms Factory (Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk) and served as a representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814.[1][2]
Biography
Poul Steenstrup was born the son of a Danish landowner at Egtved, in Vejle, Denmark. He studied surgery and science at the University of Copenhagen but did not take the final examination. In 1797, he came to Buskerud in Norway where he attended the Royal Norwegian Mining Academy (kongelige norske Mining Academy) in Kongsberg. From 1801 he undertook a three-year scholarship trip to German and Austrian ironworks and factories, principally in Freiberg and Vienna.[3]
Upon returning to Norway, he served as mining inspector at the Kongsberg Silver Mines. He was superintendent and manager of Kongsberg Ironworks (Kongsberg Jernverk) from the start of operations in 1809 until it was privatized in 1824.