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Christgau, Victor Laurence August

Senate 1927-29 (District 5)

Party when first elected:  Nonpartisan Election

Counties Served:  Dodge, Mower

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth: 9/20/1894 (uncertain)
Birth Place: Austin, Minnesota
Birth County: Mower
Birth Country: United States
Date of Death: 10/10/1991
Gender: Male
Religion:
Reported Minority: None Reported
Other Names:
City of Residence (when first elected): Austin
Occupation (when first elected): Farming, Christgau Brothers

EDUCATION

Austin High School, Minnesota; Secondary;
University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture; College Graduate; St. Paul Campus, Agriculture and Economics, 1917 (or 1923 or 1926)
University of Minnesota; Attended Graduate School; Business and Economics, 2 years

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Military: United States Army, 33rd Regiment of Engineers (World War I, France, Sergeant); 1917 to 1918
U.S. Representative: 1st Congressional District, Minnesota; 03/04/1929 to 03/03/1933 [Elected]
U.S. Executive Branch: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Adjustment Administration (Commodities Division Head, Appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt); 06/1933 to 02/1935 [Appointed]
U.S. Executive Branch: Minnesota Works Progress Administration (State Administrator); 06/1935 to 06/1938 [Appointed]
State Agency: Minnesota Division of Employment and Security (Director); 1939 to 1953
State Agency: Minnesota Department of Employment Security (Commissioner); 1953 to 1954
U.S. Executive Branch: U.S. Social Security Administration, Bureau of Old Age and Survivors Insurance (Director, Appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower); 1954 to 1963 [Appointed]
U.S. Executive Branch: U.S. Social Security Administration (Executive Director, Appointed by President John F. Kennedy); 01/1963 to 03/1967 [Appointed]

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: Muriel Doyle (married on July 30, 1931)
Children: No children
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:

GENERAL NOTES

Toensing lists his birth year as 1895. The Minnesota Legislative Manuals and the Minnesota Historical Society list 1894.

He was of German ancestry.

He was born on a farm east of Austin, Minnesota.

He was an unsuccessful Farmer-Labor candidate for the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota's 1st District in the 1924 primary election.

He ran for the United States House of Representatives as a Republican in 1928.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the United States House of Representatives in 1932. He ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate.

He died of pneumonia at George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was buried at St. Thomas Aquinas Cemetery in St. Paul Park, Minnesota.

Total Days Served: 791

SESSIONS SERVED

46th Legislative Session (1929-1930) (second half of Senate term)

  Session Details
Body: Senate
District: 05
Elected: 11/2/1926
Residence: Austin
Term of Office: 1/4/1927 to 3/4/1929 (unfinished term)
Counties Represented: Dodge, Mower
Occupation: Farmer
Party: Nonpartisan Election
Committees:
  • Agriculture (Chair)
  • Education
  • General Legislation
  • Reforestation
  • Taxes and Tax Laws
  • Temperance
  • University
Reason for unfinished term: Elected to other office
Session Notes: He was elected to the United States House of Representatives. His actual term end date is uncertain due to his election to another office.

45th Legislative Session (1927-1928)

  Session Details
Body: Senate
District: 05
Elected: 11/2/1926
Residence: Austin
Term of Office: 1/4/1927 to 3/4/1929 (unfinished term)
Counties Represented: Dodge, Mower
Occupation: Farming, Christgau Brothers
Party: Nonpartisan Election
Committees:
  • Education
  • General Legislation
  • Markets and Marketing
  • Public Welfare
  • Reforestation
  • Taxes and Tax Laws
  • Temperance
Reason for unfinished term: Elected to other office
Session Notes: He was elected to the United States House of Representatives. His actual term end date is uncertain due to his election to another office.
Articles & Books About
"Victor Christgau, 97, Former Minnesota Congressman, Dies (Obituary)." St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 12, 1991, p. 9A, 12A.

Freeborn, Dan. "Ex-Congressman Victor Christgau (Obituary)." Star Tribune, October 12, 1991.

Christgau, Victor Laurence August. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.


Archive Collections
Victor Christgau Papers, 1894-1991 - Available in the Minnesota Historical Society's Collections
These files are available in the Legislative Reference Library.