Elias Blix (24 February 1836 – 17 January 1902) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

professor, theologian, hymn writer, and a politician for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Blix wrote numerous hymns and was largely responsible for translating the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

into the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

Biography

Born on Sandhornøy

Gildeskål Gildeskål is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Bodø Region and the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inndyr. Other villages include Forstranda, Lekange ...

Salten Salten is a traditional district in Nordland county, Norway. It includes the municipalities of Meløy, Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen, and Hamarøy. Salten covers an area of about and has a population (2016) ...

, in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

County, Norway. He attended a teacher seminary in

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

(1853–1855). After some years as a teacher in Tromsø, he moved to Christiania for studies in 1859. He was a student of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

. Blix graduated in 1860 and received his theological degree in 1866 and earned a '' Dr. philos.'' in 1876. Blix worked as a teacher for 25 years at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, where he taught

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and Bible studies. Blix was Minister of Education and Church Affairs in the Cabinet of

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...

from 1884 to 1888, interrupted by a period as member of the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 1885–86. Blix was also a proponent of the

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

language, as well as a composer of psalms and hymns. Among his best known hymns are ''Gud signe vårt dyre fedreland'' and ''No livnar det i lundar''. His collection of hymns in

, '' Nokre salmar'', published between the years 1869 to 1875, was in 1892 permitted for official use in the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

, alongside the official version. Together with

Johannes Belsheim Johannes Engebretsen Belsheim (21 January 1829 – 15 July 1909) was a Norwegian teacher, priest, translator and biographer. Johannes Belsheim was born in the village of Thorpegardane at Vang in Oppland. He attended Asker Seminary in Aker ...

and

Matias Skard Matias Skard (28 May 1846 – 28 July 1927) was a Norwegian philologist, educator, psalmist, essayist and translator. Biography Matias Olsen Skard was born on a family farm at Øyer in Gudbrandsdal, Norway. He had planned to study theology but ...

, Blix was a major contributor to the Nynorsk translation of the

, which was published in 1890. Nordlendingenes Forening was founded in 1862 by Elias Blix together with educator, clergyman and engineer Ole Tobias Olsen (1830–1924). The society is a fraternal association of people who have emigrated from the counties of

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 ...

and

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

. In honor of the society's 50th anniversary in 1912, a commemorative medal was first established in memory of

Petter Dass Petter Pettersen Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. Biography He was born at Northern Herøy (Dønna), Nordland, No ...

, the clergyman and poet from

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svartise ...

. The Petter Dass Medal (''Petter Dass medaljen'') is an award given annually by Nordlendingenes Forening, to people from

who have distinguished themselves in their work for the region's development.

Personal life

In 1871, Blix married Emma Alvilde Marie Hansen (1849–1927). They were the parents of several children including Marie Blix (1873–1920), Einar Blix (1880–1941) and illustrator

Ragnvald Blix Ragnvald Blix (12 September 1882 – 2 May 1958) was a Norwegian illustrator, caricaturist and magazine editor. He was particularly known for his anti-Nazi drawings during World War II. Ragnvald Blix was born in Oslo, the son of minister Eli ...

(1882–1958). Elias Blix died during 1902 and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...

in Oslo.

Blix Prize

The Blix Prize (''Blix-prisen'') is a literary prize awarded annually by the Norwegian publishing house

Det Norske Samlaget Det Norske Samlaget is a Norwegian publishing house founded on 24 March 1868 with the aim to promote and publish books in Landsmål, now known as Nynorsk. ''Det Norske Samlaget'' is now divided into two institutions: a literature organization, ''L ...

to an outstanding author from

who writes in

. The award is a monetary amount from the Emma and Elias Blix Endowment. The endowment was established by Marie Blix and Einar Blix in memory of their parents, Emma and Elias Blix.

References

Other sources

*Olsen, Kurt-Johnny (1986) ''Elias Blix, mannen og verket'' (Bodø) *Aschim, Anders (2008) ''Ein betre vår ein gong: Elias Blix: Biografi''

External links

Elias Blix
at Salten Museum,

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

Elias Blix 175 year JubileumFamily Genealogy
(vestraat.net) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blix, Elias 1836 births 1902 deaths People from Gildeskål Norwegian Lutherans Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Nynorsk-language writers Norwegian male poets Norwegian translators Academic staff of the University of Oslo Government ministers of Norway Translators of the Bible into Norwegian 19th-century Norwegian poets 19th-century translators 19th-century Norwegian male writers Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Lutheran biblical scholars 19th-century Lutherans Ministers of Education of Norway