Johan Throne Holst (7 February 1868 – 13 February 1946), was a Norwegian industrialist and politician for the Liberal Left Party (Frisinnede Venstre). He was the founder of Marabou and CEO of Freia, now owned and operated by Mondelez International. [1] [2] [3]
Throne Holst was born in Trondheim, Norway. He was the son of Johan Martinus Brodtkorb Holst (1829–1913) and Josefa Gørvell (1835–1913). [4]
Throne Holst graduated from
In 1916, Throne Holst established chocolate production at Sundbyberg, Sweden under the brand name Marabou with his son Henning Throne-Holst (1895–1980) as CEO and director. The brand Marabou was created as the brand name Freia already existed in Sweden. Actual production did not start until 1919 due to shortages in cocoa supply caused by World War I.[7][8][9][10][2]
He served in the Oslo city council (1904–10) and was elected to the Norwegian Parliament (1909–12) as a representative of the Oslo neighborhood of Hammersborg. In 1923, Throne Holst was appointed chairman of Handelsbanken. Holst distanced himself from Vidkun Quisling by the beginning of the 1930s. In 1941, Holst was in the minority in the Federation of Norwegian Industries who protested against the increased trade that would be introduced during Nazi German occupation.[11][2]
In 1894, he married Hanna Richter Jenssen (1873–1952), daughter of Hans Peter Jenssen (1848–1902) and Signe Klingenberg (1852–1925). They were the parents of business executives Henning Throne-Holst (1895–1980) and Harald Throne-Holst (1905–96).[12][13]
Johan Throne Holst died during 1946 and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo. His family retained control over both Marabou and Freia until 1992.[2]
