Nicolai Wergeland
Born(1780-11-09)9 November 1780
Hosanger, Norway
Died25 March 1848(1848-03-25) (aged 67)
Occupation(s)Minister, writer and politician
Known forMember of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814
Children

Nicolai Wergeland (9 November 1780 – 25 March 1848) was a Norwegian minister, writer and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814.[1] He was elected as one of two delegates from Kristiansand to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814. He represented the unionist side, and came very well prepared to Eidsvoll, bringing his own constitution draft.[1] Along with him from Kristiansand came wholesaler Ole Clausen Mørch.

Family

Wergeland's family hailed from Brekke in Sogn. His father was Halvor Lassesen, a teacher and parish clerk in Hosanger.

Feminist writer Camilla Collett, drawn by her father Nicolai Wergeland

Wergeland's daughter Camilla Collett, author of the novel Amtmandens døttre ("The Governor's Daughters", 1854, anonymously), is regarded as Norway's first feminist writer.[2][3]

Poet Henrik Wergeland, drawn by his father Nicolai Wergeland

The son Henrik Wergeland is often characterized as Norway's national poet, and a symbol of the country's independence.[4] Wergeland was also father of military officer Oscar Wergeland, and proprietor Harald Titus Alexis Wergeland. His nephew, mountaineer, lieutenant general and government minister Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland grew up with the family, when the young mother, Wergeland's sister, became a widow.

Career

Wergeland studied theology in Copenhagen. As he did not come from a wealthy family, his economic conditions were so difficult that he considered enlisting as a soldier.[1] He became a cand.theol. in 1803, served as a curate in Kristiansand from 1812, a vicar to Eidsvold from 1816, and rural dean in Eidsvold from 1822.[5]

He became well known for winning a contest arranged by the Norwegian Society for Development (Selskabet for Norges Vel) in 1811, coming up with the best writing arguing for a separate Norwegian university in Christiania, with Mnemosyne (published in Historisk-philosophiske Samlinger in 1811).[5]

In Kristiansand he was an active participant at Det Dramatiske Selskab, which had been founded by his father-in-law.

He was elected delegate to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814, where he was a member of the constitution committee.[1][5] He participated actively also in the plenary sessions, with long and well-prepared speeches.[1] His unionist and anti-Danish point of view made him less popular among delegates with a different opininon.[1] During the drafting of the Norwegian constitution, Wergeland was one of the principle authors of the Jew clause, which prohibited Jews from entering Norway.,[6]

Throughout his life Wergeland participated actively in political and cultural debates, published several works, experimented with drawing and painting, and composed music.

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Nicolai Wergeland (1780-1848)" (in Norwegian). Eidsvoll 1814. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  2. ^ Beret Bråten (2003). "Camilla – Norges første feminist" (in Norwegian). Kilden. Informasjonssenter for kjønnsforskning. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  3. ^ Katharina M. Wilson (1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780824085476. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  4. ^ "Henrik Wergeland (1808 - 1845) - The 200th anniversary of his birth". Royal Norwegian Embassy in Canberra, Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  5. ^ a b c Mardal, Magnus A. "Nicolai Wergeland". Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  6. ^ "The abolition of the Jews Act in Norway's Basic Law 1814 - 1851 - 2001. Brief history and description of the documentation".

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