Eilert Sundt

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Bust of Eilert Sundt on Olaf-Ryes-Plass in Oslo.

Eilert Lund Sundt (born August 8, 1817 in Farsund , † June 13, 1875 in Eidsvoll ) was a Norwegian theologian, sociologist and ethnologist. He was a pioneer in demography and sociology in Norway.

family

His parents were the captain, later a merchant and mail expedition, Lars Mortensen Sundt (1762-1850) and his wife Karen Bing Drejer (1777-1865). On February 5, 1859, he married Nicoline Conradine Hansen (April 2, 1822– October 24, 1881), daughter of the writer, poet and teacher Maurits Christopher Hansen (1794–1842) and his wife Helvig Leschly (1789–1874).

School and study

Sundt attended Latin school in Stavanger and passed the examen artium in 1835 . He then began studying theology at Christiania University . But he had to interrupt it because of frequent migraine attacks and did not take his state examination until 1846. In 1849 he received a lecture assignment for church history and dogmatics at the university. From 1845 on he was also a teacher at the workhouse in Christiania.

Scientific work

Vagrancy, poverty problems, large families

There he met many Roma who then "Fant" or "Tatere" (both for gypsies , tramps , traveling people) were called, a mystical and frightening breed of people, hardly any of the people knew. Sundt became curious about them and made friends with some of them. He learned their language and tried to join them as he wandered the country. His observations culminated in his book Beretning om Fanteeller Landstrygerfolket i Norge in 1850 (Report on the Gypsies and Vagrants in Norway). At the time, the Gypsy people were seen as a major social problem, and the peasants saw with horror the approach of such a group. Because they had a reputation for stealing and mastering sorcery. Most saw the solution to settling down and sending their children to school and giving them confirmation lessons. Sundt was of this opinion and went on a hiking mission among the nomadic groups.

During this work he realized that vagrancy must be seen in connection with the problem of poverty. He dealt with these connections in a series of treatises. The prevailing view was that poverty was due to the recklessness of young people who gave birth to children before they could make a living. This is due to the ideals of freedom that are spreading in Europe. Sundt got to the bottom of this. This led to his groundbreaking work Om Giftermaal i Norge (About marriage in Norway). He used population statistics and showed that the high birth rates in the 1840s were by no means due to the carelessness of young people, but rather to very large cohorts in the previous generation. The fact that strong birth cohorts lead to strong cohorts one generation later has since been referred to in demographics as the "Eilert-Sundt law".

The large number of illegitimate children were also perceived as a problem. Sundt pursued this question in two papers: Om Sædeligheds-Tilhaben i Norge (On the state of morality in Norway) and Fortsatte Bidrag anaaende Sædeligheds-Tilhaben i Norge (Another contribution on the state of morality in Norway). He believed that problems for mothers with illegitimate children were created because their fathers let them sit. He investigated the reasons and found that two phenomena that were widespread were the cause: the window opening and the common sleeping arrangements for boys and girls on the farms. Many peasants did not care about the lives of their service people. This often had to stay at the back of the stable and the farmer did not consider it part of the extended family. On his travels, Sundt admonished the farmers to feel responsible for their servants and maidservants.

Sundt was so shocked by many of his experiences that he hesitated to write down the atrocities. But he avoided drastic expressions. He wanted to understand, not judge. The more he researched, the deeper his understanding of social problems became.

alcoholism

Another problem he was investigating was alcoholism . This led him to another groundbreaking work Om Ædrueligheds-Tilestand i Norge (On the state of sobriety in Norway). Here he did not rely on available statistics, but obtained the source material himself by writing to all teachers in the country and asking them about the alcohol consumption of adults in their school district. He then evaluated the material according to parts of the country and social class. His evaluations also stand up to today's standards. He also conducted nationwide surveys on the hygienic conditions in households. Wherever numbers were not available, he conducted interviews himself. So he became a pioneer of " oral history " in the emerging Norwegian social research.

One of the drawings from the book Sundts Om Bygnings-Skikken paa Landet i Norge .

Further research fields

His research gradually expanded to include other and very different topics. His book Om Bygnings-Skikken paa Landet i Norge (About building methods in the countryside in Norway) is a unique source for building history . Everything he wrote he saw as preparatory work for a comprehensive cultural-historical-demographic representation of life in Norway, a plan that he was unable to carry out. He took care of all kinds of working methods and refuted the theory of the historian Rudolf Keyser that Norway was settled from the north. He was also active in the field of history and language reform. He made sure that the speech on May 17, 1844 was given in Old Norse. He was also deeply impressed by Wergeland . He delivered the funeral oration on July 19, 1845.

Others

Sundt was a staunch advocate of the Enlightenment and Norwegian national romanticism . His research was funded by grants from Storting, the Norwegian Parliament. But gradually there was resentment because he never came to an end and his research did not lead to any useful suggestions. Eventually he fell victim to the austerity measures demanded by Søren Jaabæk . After 1869 he received no more research funding. To compensate, however, he got the well-endowed pastor's position in Eidsvoll ; but he preferred to give lectures to workers' and educational societies rather than sermons in church.

Memberships

In 1850 he was a founding member of the Selskab for Folkeoplysningens Fremme (Society for the Promotion of National Education) (Chairman 1856–1866) and in 1864 of Christiania Arbeidersamfund (Christianias workers' association) (Chairman 1864–1870).

He was also a member of the Videnskabs-Selskab in Christiania (Scientific Society, now the Norwegian Academy of Sciences ) since it was founded in 1857, the Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab and the Finska litteratursällskapet in Helsinki .

Honors (selection)

Eilert Sundt became a knight of the Order of Saint Olav in 1864 .

A bust of Sundt has been placed on Olaf Ryes square in Oslo.

Many streets and squares in Norway are named after him.

Works (selection)

  • Beretning om Fanteeller Landstrygerfolket i Norge . 1850
  • Om Dødeligheden i Norge. Bidrag to Kundskab om Folkets Kaar og Sæder . 1855
  • Om Giftermaal i Norge . 1855 (3rd edition 1992, English Cambridge 1980)
  • Om Sædeligheds-Tilestand i Norge . 1857 (English: Sexual customs in rural Norway . Ames (Iowa) 1993)
  • Beretninger om Røros and Omegn . 1858
  • Piperviken and Ruseløkbakken. Undersøgelser om Arbeidsklassens Kaar og Sæder i Christiania . 1858
  • Om Ædrueligheds-Tilestand i Norge . 1859
  • Harham. Et examples from Fiskeri districts . 1859
  • Om Bygnings-Skikken paa Landet i Norge . 1862
  • Helgeland den ældste norske Bygd? 1864
  • Continued Bidrag stating Sædeligheds-Tilestand i Norge . 1864
  • Paa Havet: Beretning om Forlis i Tromsø Bispedømme 1863, 1864
  • Om Husfliden i Norge. Til Arbeidets Ære og Arbeidssomhedens Pris . 1867-68
  • Om Renlighedsstellet i Norge . 1869
  • Fattigbefolkningen i Christiania . 1870
  • Om Huslivet i Norge . 1873

Remarks

The article is essentially based on Norsk biografisk leksikon . Other information is shown separately.

  1. ↑ The "Examen artium" was the regular entrance examination for university, which required knowledge of Latin and Greek. So it corresponded to the Abitur, but was accepted by the university.
  2. ↑ a b KV Hammer: Eilert Lund Sundt . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 27 : Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1918, Sp. 744 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  3. ↑ The work house ("tukthus") was initially a forced labor institution for tramps and beggars. Later it became a penal institution, the "prison".
  4. ↑ Leen Van Molle: Comparing Religious Perspectives on Social Reform . In this. (Ed.): Charity and Social Welfare. The Dynamics of Religious Reform in Northern Europe, 1780-1920 (= Dynamics of Religious Reform, Vol. 4). Leuven University Press, Löwen 2017, pp. 22–37, here p. 17.
  5. ↑ KV Hammer: Eilert Lund Sundt . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 27 : Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1918, Sp. 745 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

literature

personal data
SURNAME Sundt, Eilert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sundt, Eilert Lund
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian sociologist and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH Farsund , Norway
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1875
Place of death Eidsvoll Norway