Isak Saba

{{Short description|Norwegian Sami teacher and politician (1875–1921)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Isak Saba

| image = Saba (Labour parliamentary group 1906).jpg

| caption = Isak Saba, 1906

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|11|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = Reppen, Nesseby, Norway

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1921|06|01|1875|11|15|df=y}}

| death_place = Vardø, Norway

| occupation = Politician, teacher, poet

| known_for = {{plainlist|

• Member of Parliament (1906–1909)
• Member of Parliament (1910–1912)

}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Marie Gunneva Hansdatter Holm|1905-08-01}}

| parents = {{plainlist|

• Per (Peder) Sabasen (Sabbasen) (1832–1900)
• Bigi (Britha) Henriksdatter Aikio (1834–1908)

}}

}}

Isak Mikal Saba (15 November 1875 – 1 June 1921){{Cite book |last=Lindstøl |first=Tallak |title=Stortinget og statsraadet: 1814–1914 |publisher=1914–1915 |volume=1, part 2. Biographies L-Ø: and supplements |location=Kristiania |pages=743 |language=no |oclc=1140738310}}{{Cite book |title=Stortinget og statsrådet: 1915-1945 |volume=1 |pages=45 |language=no}} was a Norwegian Sámi teacher and politician.{{Cite book |last=Larsson |first=Bjørg |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/248806480 |title=Fornorskningsbegrepet belyst med utgangspunkt i debatten i begynnelsen av 1900-tallet |date=1996 |publisher=Høgskolen i Finnmark |isbn=9788275411202 |location=Alta |language=no |oclc=248806480}} He was born in 1875 in Nesseby Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway to Per Sabasen and Bigi Henriksdatter Aikio. Saba married Marie Gunneva Hansdatter Holm (1876–1961), daughter of Hans Holm Olsen and Marit Gulbrandsdatter. On 11 October 1906 he became the first Sámi to be elected to the Stortinget (Norwegian parliament), and he was the representative of Finnmark for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1907 to 1912.{{Cite book |last=Jernsletten |first=Regnor |title=Samebevegelsen i Norge: idé og strategi 1900-1940 |publisher=University of Tromsø Center for Sami Studies |year=1998 |location=Tromsø |language=no |oclc=474342959}} He was the mayor of Nesseby Municipality from 1914 to 1915.{{Cite book |last=Blix |first=Erik Schytte |title=Ordførere i Nesseby kommune. 1846-1966 |year=1967 |location=Tromsø |pages=28–32 |language=no |oclc=557318538}} After serving as mayor, he worked as a teacher until his death.

File:Labour parliamentary group 1906.jpg

Saba wrote the text to Sámi soga lávlla, which the Sámi Conference made the Sami national anthem in 1986.{{Citation |last=Jensen |first=Lill-Ann |title=Isak Saba |date=2020-02-25 |work=Norsk biografisk leksikon |url=http://nbl.snl.no/Isak_Saba |access-date=2021-12-31 |language=nb}}

Saba died in 1921 in Vardø.