Val Bjornson

Kristjan Valdimar "Val" Bjornson (August 29, 1906 – March 3, 1987) was a Minnesota writer, newspaper editor, and politician who served as State Treasurer for more than two decades.[1]

He was born in Minneota, Minnesota of Icelandic descent.[2] In World War II, he served in Navy intelligence, stationed in Iceland.[3] Besides English, he was able to speak Icelandic, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian.[4]

He was part owner of the Minneota Mascot newspaper and an associate editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press.[5]

As the Republican candidate in the United States Senate elections, 1954, he lost to Hubert Humphrey, with whom he sometimes shared a car to travel the state.[6]

He died in Minneapolis.[7] The University of Minnesota, his alma mater, and the University of Iceland have a student exchange scholarship named in his honor.[8]

Bibliography

Bjornson, Val (1969). The History of Minnesota. West Palm Beach, Florida: Lewis Historical Publishing. 

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Julius A. Schmahl
Treasurer of Minnesota
1951–1955
Succeeded by
Arthur Hansen
Preceded by
Arthur Hansen
Treasurer of Minnesota
1957–1975
Succeeded by
Jim Lord


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