Johan Jean Christian Sørensen (21 November 1830 – 1 October 1918) was a Norwegian businessperson and book publisher who had been at one time Danish consul to Spain.

Biography

He was born in

Drøbak Drøbak is a List of cities in Norway, town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its o ...

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

, Norway. He was a son of shipmaster, merchant and lighthouse manager Abraham Georg Sørensen and Nancy Samuelson. He was a brother of Niels Georg Sørensen. The family moved to Lindesnes in 1842. He worked at sea from the age of thirteen, but in 1844 he moved with the family to Hustadvika when his father became manager of

Kvitholmen Lighthouse Kvitholmen Lighthouse ( no, Kvitholmen fyr) is a coastal lighthouse located in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the island of Kvitholmen, about off the mainland coast of Eide Municipality. The lighthou ...

. At the age of seventeen Sørensen became a shop clerk in Kristiansund. In 1868 he married German citizen Anna Henriette Dick (1843–1921). Sørensen moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1857 to trade

dried and salted cod Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export ...

. His company was located in

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, and soon expanded to include timber trade. In 1862 a branch office was opened in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, where a mechanical workshop was also established. From 1867 to 1871 he was the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in Spain. He gradually relocated his business to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where he established a sawmill Säfveåns AB in

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

with his brothers during 1874. In 1880 he moved back to Norway, residing at the property Fagerstrand near

Høvik Høvik is a suburban area in the municipality of Bærum, Viken, Norway, in the Oslo metropolitan area. Mainly a residential area, its population (2005) is 4,311. It is normal to divide Høvik into two parts; Nedre (lower) and Øvre (upper). Hø ...

. His interests in the companies in Spain and Sweden was gradually discontinued, but the companies were still run by others. Sørensen had received education through private tutoring in Kristiansund, where he also used the library at his workplace. He became a part of the liberal movement, and became active in culture and society in the 1880s. In 1884 he replaced

Olaf Norli Olaf Olsen Norli (18 August 1861 – 21 January 1959) was a Norwegian bookseller and publisher. Biography He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He grew up at Nordlia on Sjursøya. In 1877 he started as an apprentice in Jacob Dybwad's books ...

as a partner of

Olaf Huseby Olaf Huseby (December 12, 1856–October 3, 1942) was a Norwegian-American bookseller and publisher. Biography Olaf Antunson Huseby was born at Leikanger in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. He was the oldest of five siblings. He studied art in ...

in the book store and publishing house Huseby & Co. Among their publications were books such as '' Albertine'' by

Christian Krohg Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...

, which was confiscated by the police. They also published the periodical ''

Nyt Tidsskrift ''Nyt Tidsskrift'' is a former Norwegian language, Norwegian literary, cultural and political periodical issued from 1882 to 1887, and with a second series from 1892 to 1895. The periodical had contributions from several of the leading intellectuals ...

'', edited by

Olaf Skavlan Olaf Skavlan (25 January 1838 – 30 May 1891) was a Norwegian literary historian and playwright. Personal life He was born as Ole Skavlan in Stranda as a son of vicar and politician Aage Schavland (1806–1876) and his wife Gerhardine Pauline Be ...

and

Ernst Sars Johan Ernst Welhaven Sars (11 October 1835 – 27 January 1917) was a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor. His main work was ''Udsigt over den norske Historie'', four volumes issued from 1873 to 1891. He co-edited the magazines ...

. Sørensen was the first publisher of cheap books for the mass market in Norway. In 1887 he established his own publishing house, ''Bibliothek for de tusen hjems forlag'', where the goal was to mass-produce intellectual and political works for ordinary people, in a series called '' Bibliothek for de tusen hjem''. The first book in the series was Bjørnson's story ''Støv''. In addition to liberal Norwegian writers, the series would contain authors such as

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The storie ...

Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest" ...

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

and

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ''bo ...

. In seven years, Sørensen published 130 books in a circulation of about 600,000 copies. He has thus been credited for bringing European ideas such as

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

and

evolutionism Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberate ...

to the peripheral nation Norway. Sørensen sold his publishing house in 1895. He had struggled with

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

, and stayed at two sanatoriums in

Sør-Fron Sør-Fron 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 Hundorp. Other villages in the municipality include Gålå, Harpe ...

, Tofte and in the

Lauvåsen Lauvåsen is a neighbourhood in the city of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. It is a part of the borough of Oddernes and it is in the district of Hånes. The neighbourhood lies between European route E18 and Norwegian National Road 41, just e ...

neighborhood of Kristiansand. He died at Tofte Sanatorium in October 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soerensen, Johan 1830 births 1918 deaths People from Frogn Norwegian company founders Norwegian expatriates in Spain Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian book publishers (people)