Lars (Laurentius, Lauritz, Lauriz) Andreas Oftedahl (19 May 1781 – 17 March 1843) was a Norwegian-Danish priest and a member of the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814.

Biography

Oftedahl was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, his parents were Lars Larsen Oftedahl, later captain and arms manager, and Ellen Andersdatter (born Evetoft). He moved with his parents to

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

, and later to

Christianssand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

, where he graduated as cand.theol. in 1801. From 1809 he was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Rennesøy Rennesøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was merged into Stavanger municipality on 1 January 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

, Stavanger Amt. He became a renowned speaker, and was elected as one of three delegates from Stavanger Amt to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814, where he represented the unionist side. He was first deputy, representing the official class. Along with him from Stavanger Amt came merchant Christen Mølbach and farmer Asgaut Olsen Regelstad. He served as a curate in

from 1817, and

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

from 1825, and was vicar in

Eker Eker ( ar, العكر) is an area in Bahrain, located near the villages of Nuwaidrat, Ma'ameer and the island of Sitra. It is divided into 2 regions: East Eker and West Eker, with Shias making up the majority of the former's population.

from 1831. He served as deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament for two terms. He was also engaged in social matters such as education and poor relief. He issued a catechism explanation in 1814, and a Latin grammar in 1923.

Claus Pavels' diaries

Oftedahl is mentioned twice in

Claus Pavels Claus Pavels (8 January 1769 – 16 February 1822) was a Norwegian priest and diarist. His diaries from 1812 to 1822 are an important source for cultural and biographical history. He was the Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin from 1817 until ...

' diaries. Pavels describes Oftedahl's

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

speech from 1813 as being "without doubt the most beautiful of them all".

The catechism explanation

Oftedahl's catechism explanation from 1814, ''Forklaring over Luthers Katekismus'', consists of an introductory chapter with 27 questions on religion and moral, followed by five chapters (''1. Om Troens Artikle'', ''2. Om Guds Lov eller de ti bud'', ''3. Om Bønnen'', ''4. Om Daabens Sakramente'', and ''5. Om Alterens Sakramente''), containing 223 questions and answers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oftedahl, Lars Andreas 1781 births 1843 deaths Fathers of the Constitution of Norway Rogaland politicians Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian priest-politicians Danish emigrants to Norway