Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was born on 17 June, 1808 in Kristiansand, and died on 12 July, 1845 in Christiania, only 37 years old. He is one of the most famous Norwegian poets, and his pursuits covered literature, theology, history, science, social issues, and contemporary politics. His views were controversial in his time. In 2008 Norway celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth.
17/06/2008 :: Wergeland had a hot temper and fought willingly for social justice. All his life he worked tirelessly for religious tolerance, freedom through knowledge and enlightenment, and equality between nations and social classes, guided above all by his profound compassion for humanity. As an advocate of the enlightenment of the common man, Wergeland became involved in the battle for social equality, gave lectures, distributed books, and established lending libraries.
At the time, poverty was normal in the rural areas, and serfdom was common. Wergeland often went into legal strife with greedy lawyers, who could legally take hold of small homesteads. Wergeland earned himself great enemies for this, and in one case, the legal problems lasted for years, and nearly left him in bankruptcy.
Wergeland was an important participant in national debates, and became famous for his fight to eliminate the Norwegian Constitution's paragraph 2, restricting Jews' rights to enter the country. He was an outspoken proponent of the right of religious freedom and his time's foremost advocate of allowing Jews to legally enter Norway, a right they were granted in 1851, six years after his death. The Jewish community of Oslo pay their respects at his grave on May 17, in appreciation of his efforts.
In 1829, he became a symbol of the fight for celebration of the constitution at May 17, which was later to become the Norwegian National Day. He was given credit as the one who "initiated the day".
Wergeland also supported the thought of a separate and independent language for Norway, which until this point had written in Danish. Thus, he preceded the author Ivar Aasen by 15 years.
Later, the Norwegian historian Halvdan Koht would say, that "there is not one political cause in Norway, which has not been seen and preceded by Henrik Wergeland".
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is contributing to the anniversary celebrations in form of a project entitled "Tolerance and Compassion". It is addressed to children, young people and adults of all ages and is being carried out in cooperation with the City of Kristiansand, Norwegian Children and Youth Council and the House of Literature in Oslo.
Please note:
Copyright image 1: The National Library of Norway
Copyright image 2: The National Library of Norway
Copyright image 3: Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Image 1 and 2 can only be used in connection with events, information material etc. linked to the Wergeland Year 2008.