Carl Theodor Zahle

Carl Theodor Zahle
5th Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 21 April 1918 – 30 March 1920
Monarch	Christian X
Preceded by	Himself (as Council President)
Succeeded by	Otto Liebe
Council President of Denmark
In office 28 October 1909 – 5 July 1910
Monarch	Frederik VIII
Preceded by	Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg
Succeeded by	Klaus Berntsen
In office 21 June 1913 – 20 April 1918
Monarch	Christian X
Preceded by	Klaus Berntsen
Succeeded by	Himself (as Prime Minister)
Minister of Justice
In office 30 April 1929 – 4 November 1935
Prime Minister	Thorvald Stauning
Preceded by	Svenning Rytter
Succeeded by	Karl Kristian Steincke
In office 21 June 1913 – 30 March 1920
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Frits Bülow
Succeeded by	Otto Liebe
In office 28 October 1909 – 5 July 1910
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Svend Høgsbro
Succeeded by	Frits Bülow
Personal details
Born	(1866-01-19)19 January 1866 Roskilde, Denmark
Died	3 February 1946(1946-02-03) (aged 80) Copenhagen, Denmark
Political party	Social Liberal
Alma mater	University of Copenhagen

Carl Theodor Zahle (19 January 1866 in Roskilde – 3 February 1946 in Copenhagen), was a Danish lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1909 to 1910 and again from 1913 to 1920. In 1895, he was elected as a member of the lower chamber of the Danish parliament, the Folketing, for the Liberal Party (Venstrereformpartiet). A campaigner for peace, in 1905 he co-founded the Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre) together with other (mostly pacifistic) disgruntled members of Venstrereformpartiet. He continued on as a member of the Folketinget for Det Radikale Venstre until 1928, when he became a member of the upper chamber of parliament (Landsting). In 1929 he became Justice Minister, a post which he held until 1935.^[1]

Zahle was instrumental in starting negotiations for a new Danish–Icelandic Act of Union (Dansk-Islandsk Forbundslov) in 1917, which resulted in Iceland being recognized as a sovereign nation in a personal union with the king of Denmark the following year.^[2]