Michael Pedersen Friis


Michael Pedersen Friis was Prime Minister of Denmark from 5 April 1920 to 5 May 1920. His cabinet was called the Cabinet of M.P. Friis.

Biography

M.P. Frii became cand.jur. from the University of Copenhagen in 1883. From 1904-11 was head of department in the Ministry of Justice.
He was from 1911-1923 he was the public trustee of Denmark. On 29 March King Christian X had dismissed Prime Minister Carl Theodor Zahle and replaced him with Otto Liebe, but this use of power by the king triggered the Easter Crisis of 1920 and Otto Liebe resigned 5 days later. Michael Pedersen Friis was then appointed head of a caretaker cabinet to lead Denmark until elections could be held and a new government appointed.
Under Michael Pedersen Friis, the necessary changes were made to integrate the land acquired in the Schleswig Plebiscite into the election rules, and new elections were held. On 5 May 1920 Niels Neergaard became the new Prime Minister in a government consisting only of the Liberal party.