Johannes Winding Harbitz (26 December 1831 - 5 September 1917) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Norway

The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...

.

He was born in Askvold

Askvoll

is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Askvoll....

 as the oldest son of vicar and politician Georg Prahl Harbitz

Georg Prahl Harbitz

Georg Prahl Harbitz was a Norwegian priest and politician.He was born in Haus to innkeeper Nils Harbitz and his wife Elisabet Christine Ibsen. His father died when Georg was eight years old, and he was eventually sent to the wealthy family Prahl in Bergen for upbringing. Here, he was inspired to...

 and his wife Maren Mariken Hof. He enrolled as a student in 1850, but soon took off to work at sea. He took the mate's examination in 1852, and worked as a shipmaster from 1859 to 1869, as well as ship-owner

Ship-owner

A shipowner is the owner of a merchant vessel . In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freight rate, either as a per freight rate or based on hire...

. He was also vice consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 from the mid-1880s, at that time living in Tønsberg

Tønsberg

is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....

.

He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1880, representing the urban constituency Tønsberg. He was re-elected on four occasions, serving a total of five terms. He was also mayor of Tønsberg for twelve years. On 2 May 1893 he was appointed to the second cabinet Stang

Second cabinet Stang

The Stang's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 2 May 1893 and 14 October 1895. It had the following composition:-Cabinet members:-State Secretary:...

 as a member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. He left on 1 July 1894 to become Minister of Defence

Minister of Defence (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Defence is a Councillor of the Council of State and Chief of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the position has existed since the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Navy was combined into the Minister of Defence...

. On 1 April the next year there was a reshuffle and he was appointed Minister of Auditing

Minister of Auditing (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Auditing was the head of the Norwegian Ministry of Auditing. The position existed from 1822 to 1918.-List of Norwegian Ministers of Auditing:-References:*...

. He held this post until October 1895, when the second cabinet Stang fell.

He moved from Tønsberg to Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.The previous municipality Aker was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948.The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 January 2004 reform. Previous boroughs...

i 1897, and died in 1917. He was married to Louise Henriette Betty Lunnevig, daughter of Ole Lunnevig in Tønsberg.