Nicolai Wergeland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicolai Wergeland
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| Born | 9 November 1780 Hosanger, Norway
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| Died | 25 March 1848 (aged 67) |
| Occupation | Minister, writer and politician |
| Known for | Member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814 |
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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. 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. 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.
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.
The son Henrik Wergeland is often characterized as Norway's national poet, and a symbol of the country's independence. 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. 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.
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).
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. He participated actively also in the plenary sessions, with long and well-prepared speeches. His unionist and anti-Danish point of view made him less popular among delegates with a different opininon. During the drafting of the Norwegian constitution, Wergeland was one of the principle authors of the Jew clause, which prohibited Jews from entering Norway.,
Throughout his life Wergeland participated actively in political and cultural debates, published several works, experimented with drawing and painting, and composed music.
Wergeland died in Eidsvoll on 25 March 1848.
