Kristofer Janson
Background
{{Infobox person
| name = Kristofer Janson
| image = Kristofer_Janson.jpg
| image_size = 160px
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1841|05|04}}
| birth_place = Bergen, Norway
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|11|17|1841|05|04}}
| death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark
| occupation = author
poet
clergyman
| spouse = Drude Krog
| children = Six
}}
Kristofer Janson was born in Bergen, Norway. His father, a prominent merchant, was also the American consul. Janson graduated with a degree in theology from the University of Christiania during 1865. Although he had been trained in theology, he was not ordained into the Church of Norway. He traveled extensively in Europe and upon his return to Norway became popular as a teacher and author.{{Cite web |url=http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume19/vol19_8.htm |title=Norwegian Emigrants with University Training. 1830-1880 (Oystein Ore. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 19: Page 160) |access-date=2009-08-03 |archive-date=2020-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713063505/http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume19/vol19_8.htm |url-status=dead }}
Career
In 1876, Kristofer Janson's three-act drama, Amerikanske fantasier, was issued in Chicago by Skandinaven, which hailed its publication as a red-letter day for Norwegians in America. Both Rasmus B. Anderson and H. H. Boyesen were subsequently instrumental in arranging a lecture tour of the Norwegian immigrant community in the United States. Janson came to the United States during September, 1879 at the start of a successful six month lecture tour.[http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume22/vol22_2.html Kristofer Jansen's Lecture Tour, 1879-80 ( Nina Draxten. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 22: Page 18)]
Janson subsequently relocated his family to the United States. His home soon became a cultural center. It was here as Janson's secretary that the future Norwegian author Knut Hamsun got his initial impressions of American cultural life. During this period Janson wrote several novels and short stories often attacking the orthodoxy of the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[http://www.nb.no/emigrasjon/vis_data_bilde.php?lang=eng&dok_id=32766&nss=no-nb_emidata_E2138 The Promise of America (Norwegian-American Historical Association)]
Norwegian writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson had encouraged Janson to go to the United States and become a Unitarian pastor for the Norwegian immigrant settlements. Janson was ordained in a ceremony which took place in 1881 in Third Unitarian Church in Chicago. He was subsequently asked by the American Unitarian Association to serve as minister among Scandinavian settlers in Minnesota.[http://unitaren.blogspot.com/2009/05/link-between-unitarians-in-norway-1895.html The link between the Unitarians in Norway 1895 and today (Unitarian Church in Norway. May 04, 2009)] He founded the Free Christian Church of Minneapolis, later known as the Nazareth Church, and also established the Nora Free Christian Church in Hanska, Minnesota. He spent his winters serving the Minneapolis church and his summers in Hanska.{{cite book|author=Alan K. Lathrop|title=Churches Of Minnesota: An Illustrated Guide|pages=62–63|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2003|isbn=0816629099}}
In 1893 Janson returned to Norway and introduced Unitarianism to Norway mainly in Oslo. Kristofer Janson is recognized as the historical founder of the Norwegian Unitarian Church (Norwegian: Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid) which was established in 1895.{{Cite web |url=http://unitarforbundet.org/ |title=Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid (Norwegian Unitarian Church) |access-date=2009-08-03 |archive-date=2009-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422054210/http://www.unitarforbundet.org/ |url-status=dead }}
;Selected works
File:Kristofer Janson Norske Digte.djvu
- Norske Dikt (1867)
- Fante-Anne: short story (1868)
- Marit Skjølte: novel (1868)
- Salmer og sange for kirke og hjem (1883)
- Fra begge Sider Havet: fortællinger (1890)
- Lys og frihed: predikener til alle kirkeaarets Sön- og helligdage (1892)
- Foredrag (1894)
- Prestekonen: short story (1901)
- Bondefortællinger (1908)
;Additional reading
- Draxen, Nina Kristofer Janson in America (Norwegian-American Historical Association. Authors Series. 1976)
- Hansen, Carl G. O. My Minneapolis. (Minneapolis, MN: Standard Press, 1956)
- Sveino, Per Kristofer Janson and his American Experience (Oslo. 1971)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Kristofer Janson}}
- {{IMDb name|0418114}}
- [http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume23/vol23_6.html Kristofer Janson's beginning ministry]
- [https://archive.org/search.php?query=Kristofer%20Janson Kristof Janson] at the Internet Archive
- [http://greatriversnetwork.org/index.php?brand=cms&imagesonly=yes&q=Kristofer%20Janson&type=Photographs Kristofer Janson] at the Minnesota Historical Society
- [https://archive.org/details/jstor-25109709 Kristofer Janson and the reform of the Norwegian language]
;Works in English
- {{Gutenberg author | id=25521| name=Kristofer Janson}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Kristofer Nagel Janson}}
- [https://archive.org/details/spellboundfiddl00andegoog The spell-bound fiddler]
- [https://archive.org/details/religiousviewsof00jansiala The religious views of Bjørnson and Ibsen]
- [https://archive.org/details/historyofnorwegi00stra A history of the Norwegians of Illinois:] "Our Ancestors" by Kristofer Janson, pp. 17–32.
;Online book
- [http://nabo.nb.no/trip?_b=EMITEKST&r=853 My Minneapolis:] Nasjonalbiblioteket
:[http://nabo.nb.no/trip?_b=EMITEKST&_f=www_sub&r=853&delnr=5 28. Kristofer Janson and Knut Hamsun]
;Adaptation of Fante-Anne
- Fante-Anne: 1920 film by Rasmus Breistein
- {{YouTube|NkgbiNwrf58|Fante-Anne}}
;Adaptation of Marit Skjølte
- Brudeferden I Hardanger: 1926 film by Rasmus Breistein
- {{YouTube|mv_0FIaRbiw|Brudeferden I Hardanger}}
;Adaptation of Prestekonen
- The Parson's Widow: 1920 film by Carl Theodor Dreyer
- {{YouTube|TO6e4BPypCo|The Parson's Widow}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janson, Kristofer}}