Anders Larsen (December 2, 1870 – December 10, 1949) was a

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

teacher, journalist, and writer. Larsen was born in Seglvik in the municipality of

Kvænangen Kvænangen ( sme, Návuotna; fkv, Naavuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. The European route E6 highway goes through the municipality and over th ...

, Norway.''Store norske leksikon'': Anders Larsen.
/ref> His parents were Sea Sami. After working as a primary school teacher in the village of

Kokelv Kokelv ( sme, Goavkejohka) is a village in Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland, along the Revsbotn fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with ...

from 1895 to 1897, he attended the Tromsø

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

from 1897 to 1899. He then worked in

Rafsbotn or is a village in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village sits at the southeast end of the Altafjorden, along the European route E6 highway, about northeast of the town of Alta. The name comes from the Sami place ...

from 1899 to 1902, and at

Repparfjorden Repparfjorden is a fjord in the municipality of Hammerfest in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It has a length of about , and cuts into Porsangerhalvøya from the west, southeast of Kvaløya, Finnmark, Kvaløya. As of 2015, the municipal and natio ...

, Neverfjorden, and Kokelv from 1902 to 1918. He taught in the Sami village of Sandstrand from 1918 to 1920, at that time part of the municipality of Trondenes in

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

county. From 1920 to 1940, he worked at the Sørvikmark school (now in the municipality of

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

). Larsen served as the editor of the Sami newspaper ''

Saǥai Muittalægje ''Saǥai Muittalægje'' was an early Sámi newspaper published twice a month from July 1904 to September 1911. Although only 33 issues were published, ''Saǥai Muittalægje'' played an important role in building Sámi identity and supporting oppos ...

'' (The News Reporter) from 1904 to 1911. The newspaper was published twice a month. In 1912, he self-published the first Sami novel, ''Bæivve-Alggo'' (Dawn). The novel contains depictions of Sea Sami life, following the protagonist Ábo Eira through various stages of life. The novel depicts the consequences of the Norwegianization policy for the Sami language and self-image. The novel counteracts the Sami sense of inferiority towards the Norwegians, and it is also a protest against Norwegian society's contempt for the Sami. In the fall of 1949, the same year that he died, Larsen sent a manuscript about Sea Sami life and living conditions to the philologist

Just Knud Qvigstad Just Knud Qvigstad (4 April 1853 – 15 March 1957) was a Norwegian philologist, linguist, ethnographer, historian and cultural historian. He was also a headmaster in Tromsø, and a politician for the Conservative Party who served as mayor of Tro ...

. Qvigstad translated it into Norwegian and published it as ''Om sjøsamene'' (The Sea Sami) in 1950. The text was first published in Sami in 1979 as ''Mearrasámiid birra'' in Larsen's Kvænangen dialect in the

Tromsø Museum Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 2 ...

series ''

Acta Borealia ''Acta Borealia'' is an interdisciplinary research journal dedicated to cultural studies. It was established in 1984. It is published in English by Routledge and is based at the Tromsø University Museum and University of Tromsø. The journal p ...

''. There is a myth that Larsen "fled" from Finnmark county in 1918. In fact, he simply moved to the district where his wife was born (to Melvik near

Sørvik Sørvik or Sørvika is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located along the Vågsfjorden on the island of Hinnøya about south of the town of Harstad Its population (2001) is about 451. The village ...

). Here he continued his efforts for "the same right as other people to life's table" (''samme rett som andre folk til livets bord''),Bjørklund, Ivar. 1985. ''Fjordfolket i Kvænangen: fra samisk samfunn til norsk utkant 1550-1980''. Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget, p. 324. as he phrased it. Larsen died in Sørvikmark in the former municipality of

Sandtorg Sandtorg is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the eastern shore of the large island of Hinnøya, on the shore of the Tjeldsundet. The village is located along the European route E10 highway i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Anders People from Kvænangen 1870 births 1949 deaths Norwegian Sámi people Norwegian schoolteachers 19th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian Sámi-language writers