Rank Lieutenant General | Name Johan Normann | |
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Born 27 July 1864Bergen, Norway ( 1864-07-27 ) Battles/wars First Sino-Japanese WarBoxer RebellionXinhai Revolution Similar People Yuan Shikai, Zaiyi - Prince Duan, Song Qing, Empress Dowager Cixi, Adna Chaffee | ||
Johann Wilhelm Normann Munthe (27 July 1864 – 13 May 1935) was born in Bergen, Norway. After a military education in the cavalry, he emigrated to China in 1886, and started working as a customs officer. He enlisted in the Chinese army in the war against Japan (1894–95), and remained as a cavalry instructor under general Yuan Shikai.
Johann Munthe's association with Yuan Shikai proved advantageous, and he advanced in rank to lieutenant general and advisor to the Ministry of War; the first and only foreigner to achieve such a position.
General Munthe was an avid collector of Chinese works of arts, and his collection includes porcelain, paintings, costumes, and statues in bronze and marble. The collection now resides with the Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon also holds a large number of works collected by General Munthe and later acquired by the Museum's founder, Gertrude Bass Warner.
General Munthe was the stepfather of Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong from 1947 to 1957.