Ivar Kleiven (10 July 1854 – 19 February 1934) 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 the ...

politician, historian and poet. He is most remembered as a collector of local folklore.

Background

Ivar Jakobsson Kleven was born in

Vågå Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Besshei ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

. Kleven grew up on the small farm Kleven (''Søre Kleivi'') in

Ottadalen Ottadalen ( en, Otta Valley) is a valley in the municipalities of Skjåk, Lom, Vågå, and Sel in Innlandet county, Norway. The valley is one of the side valleys that branch off of the large Gudbrandsdalen valley. It lies on the northern edge o ...

. His parents were Jacob Ivarsson Snerle (later Kleven) (1803–1884) and Brit Knutsdotter Svarvarhaugen (1824–1916). Kleven attended one year at Seljord Folkehøgskule (1885–1886), when

Viggo Ullmann Johan Christian Viggo Ullmann (21 December 1848 – 30 August 1910) was a Norwegian educator and politician with Venstre, the Norwegian social-liberal party. He was the son of the author Vilhelmine Ullmann, brother of the feminist Ragna Nielsen ...

was the headmaster. Kleven joined the local council board where he served from 1888 to 1905. From 1892, he served as chairman of the school board and from 1900 to 1903 he was a deputy to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from the

Norwegian Liberal Party The Liberal Party ( no, Venstre, lit=Left, V; se, Gurutbellodat) is a centrist political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and it is the oldest political party in Norway. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and it is ...

Career

His writing often reflects the nationalistic mood of the time. He has been called the

Snorri Sturlason Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...

. Ivar Kleven lived through the many changes that eventually would come to transform the rural communities. It was the folk tradition from his home community that was the subject of his first book, ''Segner from Vågå'' (1894). From 1909 he received state support for cultural and historical works. ''Gamal bondekultur i Gudbrandsdalen'', his main work in the stylish and expressive Gudbrandsdal dialect, concerned the old peasant culture in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

: ''Lom and Skjåk'' (1915), ''Lesja og Dovre'' (1923), ''Østre og Vestre Gausdal'' (1926), ''Ringebu'' (1928) and ''Fronsbygdin'' (1930). An extensive collection of his work and correspondence can be found at the Norddalsarkivet in

Selected works

* ''I gamle Daagaa. Forteljingo og Bygda-Minne fraa Vaagaa'' (1908) * ''I Heimegrendi. Minne fraa Seksti-Aarom'' (1908) * ''Frå skotteåre'' (1935) * ''Elvesøg'' (1937)

References

Other sources

* Forfang, H. G. '' Ivar Kleiven 1854–1934'' (1945) * Svare, O. ''Ivar Kleiven'' (1934) *Bjørkvik, Halvard : ''Ivar Kleiven'' (in

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleiven, Ivar 1854 births 1934 deaths People from Vågå Liberal Party (Norway) politicians 20th-century Norwegian historians 19th-century Norwegian historians