Alfred Eriksen (nicknamed "Karlsøypresten", 30 August 1864 – 4 May 1934) was a Norwegian priest, politician, newspaper editor and non-fiction writer.

Personal life

He was born as Alfred Eriksen in Christiania as the son of the watchmaker Henrik Erichsen (1825–1870) and Emilie Kathrine Christoffersen (1825–1902). He married the vicar's daughter Sigrid Marie Wexelsen (1866–1960) in August 1890. He was the brother of the painter and film director Adam Eriksen, and the father of the journalist and author Solvejg Eriksen.

Career

Eriksen

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education at Kristiania Cathedral School in 1883. He then studied theology, graduating with the

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in theology in 1888. After working one year as a teacher in

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 ...

he was appointer

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 pref ...

Karlsøy Karlsøy ( sme, Gálssa suohkan) is an island municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hansnes. Other villages include Dåfjord, Hessfjord, Karlsøya, Torsvåg, Vannvå ...

in 1891, and held this position until 1910, when he became vicar in Vålerengen Church. While being a priest he wrote his doctoral thesis, titled ''Vilje. En psykologisk afhandling''. He was founder and first editor of the newspaper ''

Nordlys ''Nordlys'' is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. History and profile ''Nordlys'' was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chie ...

'' from 1902, and edited ''Nordlys'' until 1911. In 1913 he founded the publication ''Dagens Liv'', and edited it, but it soon became defunct. He published a popular book on the history of religion, ''Religionsbilleder og kulturskildringer'', in 1901, and a book on jurisprudence for ordinary people, ''Lovbok for folket'', in 1903. He also became involved in politics, was elected mayor of

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 ...

in 1898, and re-elected in 1901 and 1904. He was a failed candidate for the 1900 general election; although his party swept the vote in Karlsøy, this was not enough to win the constituency

Tromsø Amt Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 21s ...

. In

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

he was elected 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 ...

, representing the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

. This was the first time members of the organized labour movement were represented in Parliament. The Labour Party went from 0 to 4 seats after the 1903 election, all representatives of

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 addition to Lind Johansen, they were Meyer Foshaug, John Lind Johansen and Jørg Berge; also,

Adam Egede-Nissen Adam Hjalmar Egede-Nissen (29 June 1868 – 4 April 1953), was a Norway, Norwegian Posten Norge, postmaster and politician, began his political career in the Liberal Party of Norway, Liberal Party and was first elected to the Storting (parliam ...

was elected on the

ballot. He was re-elected to Parliament in 1906 and in 1909 for the constituency Tromsøsundet. He became known as one of the greatest speakers at the Parliament during this period, and his nickname "Karlsøypresten" became a well-known concept among the general public. He was awarded the

Medal for Outstanding Civic Service The Medal for Outstanding Civic Service or ''Medaljen for Borgerdåd'' is the second highest ranked Norwegian medal. In spring 2004 the medal ceased to be awarded. The medal was first established by Royal Resolution April 10, 1819 and later altere ...

for his role as mediator in the 1911 lockout. Eriksen did not want to subordinate himself to the party discipline, and was eventually expelled from the Labour Party in 1912. Contributing to his downfall was his actions in the position as chairman of the society Riksmålsforbundet from 1911 to 1912. From then he was not politically active, but wrote numerous newspaper articles on cultural topics.

Selected works

* (thesis) * * *

Personal life

Career

Selected works

References

Further reading