Even Thorsen ( 26 August 1778 – 24 March 1867 ) was a Norwegian sailor, farmer, and representative at 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 ...

. Even Thorsen was born at the Bjornes farm at

Austre Moland Austre Moland (historic: ''Østre Moland'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The roughly municipality existed from 1838 until 1962 when it was merged with several neighboring municipalities to form the new municip ...

(now

Moland Moland is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1962 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is located in what is now Agder county. The administr ...

), in Arendal in Aust-Agder, Norway. In his youth, he went to sea working as a deckhand. During the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, he was a prisoner of war in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1807, returning to Norway in 1810. As an adult, he lived with his family at Blekestrand, a farm in

Flosta Flosta (historic: ''Flougstad'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1962. It is currently part of the municipality of Arendal in Agder county. The admini ...

in Aust-Agder. He represented the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

(''Sjødefensjonen'') at the

in 1814. Thorsen sympathized with the Independence Party (''Selvstendighetspartiet''). In 1857, the Norwegian Parliament granted him an annual honorary pension three years prior to his death.''Selvstendighetspartiet'' (lokalhistoriewiki.no)
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References

1778 births 1867 deaths Aust-Agder politicians Norwegian sailors Napoleonic Wars prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy personnel Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Norwegian prisoners of war in the Napoleonic Wars Fathers of the Constitution of Norway {{Norway-politician-1770s-stub