Simon Flem Devold birthname Helge Flem Devold (17 March 1929 – 20 May 2015) born in

Namsos ( sma, Nåavmesjenjaelmie) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Some of the villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Kl ...

, Norway, was a Norwegian author, journalist and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

ist. When he was three years of age he and his family moved to

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

, where he was raised. His change of name from Helge to Simon occurred in connection with his affiliation with

Subud Subud (pronounced ), acronym of Susila Budhi Dharma, is an international, interfaith spirituality, spiritual movement that began in Indonesia in the 1920s, founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (1901–1987). The basis of Subud is a spir ...

, a worldwide association with Indonesian Indonesian roots where «the desire for the individual is to find the person you want to be here on earth». In 2012, Devold received the

Fritt Ord Honorary Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award ( no, Fritt Ords pris) and the Fritt Or ...

for his «groundbreaking commitment as a facilitator of children's voices, life experiences and rights» through the column «På skråss» in ''Aftenposten'', often based on taboo themes.

Author and writer

Devold is perhaps best known as a representative and defender for the children, including through his regular column in ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'', «På skråss». Devold's debuted as author with the book ''Gutta og jeg'' in 1973, a collection of portraits of city originals. He has written 17 books, equally distributed between books on children's understanding of life and rights, and books on urban originals. His perhaps most famous book, ''Morten, 11 år'', has been translated into Swedish, German, Dutch and Japanese. He also worked as a journalist at ''

Sunnmørsposten ''Sunnmørsposten'' () is a newspaper published by Polaris Media in Ålesund, Norway. History and profile In its early days, ''Sunnmørsposten'' competed with several other local newspapers, including ''Aalesunds Avis'' (1917–1957), '' Aalesu ...

'', where he was particularly noted with his sharp pen – and the figure Maskemakk, which featured in Sunnmørsposten in the 1970s and was known for its quaint English: «The fast-window went on reason» (Hurtigruta ran aground).

The musician

Devold led the S.F.D. Quartet, and in recent years he played a lot with

Tord Gustavsen Tord Gustavsen (born 5 October 1970) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer. He tours extensively worldwide, and he has been a bandleader for a trio, ensemble and quartet at various times, all bearing his name. Early life Gustavsen was born on ...

. Devold's quartet played swing jazz à la

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

, and from the mid-1950s he was one of the most famous jazz groups in Norway, especially in his genre. The quartet originally consisted of Devold (Clarinet and Saxophone), Ivar Skuseth (Vibraphone), Kåre Halvorsen (Piano) and Leif Hessen (Drums). The quartet was periodically expanded to quintet with additional guitar accompaniment. Devold contributed to Turid Lisbeth Nygård's children's jazz record ''Trollhalen'' (Musico, 2001). Together with Marit Carlsen he released the album ''Swingende Barnetro'' ( KKV, 1989), and with Jon Kirkebø Rosslund and Pål Are Bakksjø he provided jazz kindergarten at Hemnesjazz (1999).

Children of the Earth

In 1987 Devold got the idea that

Nordkapp ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

could be used for something of positive importance far beyond Norway's borders. In collaboration with, among others, Nordkapps Vel, seven children from different parts of the earth gathered at Nordkapp. Hence the name of the ''Barn av Jorden'' (Children of the Eart). The project has been transformed into an award given to a person or project that has shown care and ability to help distressed children. Barn av Jorden's Prize are worth NOK 100,000 and are awarded each year in June at Nordkapp.

Honors

* Hirschfeldtprisen 1965 * ''Name of the Year'' at

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

1984 * ''TV profile of the year'' at

Se og Hør ''Se og Hør'' (; "See and Hear") is a TV guide and celebrity journalism magazine published in three independent versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (where it is called ''Se & Hör'' ) by the Danish company Aller Media. The Danish version is ...

1985 * Paul Robesonprisen 1988 * Brobyggerprisen 1996 * Brummprisen 1996 * Wandaprisen 1998 * Tulipanprisen 2000 *

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold 2002 * Åpenhetsprisen 2006 * Barnehelseprisen 2011 *

2012

References

External links

Tordg.no/simon
om duoen med

www.barnavjorden.org – Barn av Jorden

Fritt Ords Honnør
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devold, Simon Flem 2015 deaths 1929 births Norwegian jazz clarinetists Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Norwegian non-fiction writers People from Namsos People from Ålesund Aftenposten people