Nordahl Rolfsen

Nordahl Rolfsen was a prominent figure in Norwegian literature and education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was born in Bergen, where he attended the Bergen Cathedral School. He moved to Christiania (now Oslo) to study at the university, and worked as a teacher at various schools. He also wrote poetry and stories, and experimented with different literary genres. He was especially interested in drama, and wrote several plays that were performed in Denmark and Norway. He also edited a children's magazine, Illustreret Tidende for Børn, from 1885 to 1894, where he published stories and poems by himself and other Norwegian and foreign authors. He also translated works from Danish, Swedish, German, English and French. His most famous and influential work was Læsebog for folkeskolen, a series of five readers for elementary school, which he published between 1892 and 1895. He received funding from the publisher Jacob Dybwad, after his application to the Ministry of Church was rejected by the Parliament. The readers were a radical departure from the previous schoolbooks, as they contained a rich and diverse selection of literary texts, both original and translated, as well as factual and historical information. The readers also had a distinct Norwegian tone, both in language and content, and reflected Rolfsen's patriotic and democratic ideals. He collaborated with Moltke Moe, a linguist and folklorist, who helped him with the language and style of the texts. The readers also featured many illustrations by Norwegian artists, such as Theodor Kittelsen, Erik Werenskiold and Gerhard Munthe. The readers were widely used in Norwegian schools until the 1950s, and had a lasting impact on the literary and cultural education of generations of Norwegians. Rolfsen continued to work as a writer and editor for the rest of his life. He also worked as a journalist, translator, researcher and speaker. He edited a two-volume work, Norge i det nittende Aarhundrede, which gave an overview of Norwegian history, culture and society in the nineteenth century. He also co-edited a popular science series, Lys over land, with Danish and Swedish colleagues. He was a leader of the Norwegian Students' Society, and later the chairman of the Norwegian Authors' Union. He was awarded the Order of St. Olav in 1912. He died in Oslo in 1928, and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund. He was the father of the painter Alf Rolfsen, and the great-grandson of the poet and bishop Johan Nordal Brun.