Konrad Hartvig Isak Rosenvinge Nielsen (28 August 1875 – 27 November 1953) was a Norwegian philologist. He spent most of his career as a professor at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(University of Oslo) as a lecturer, textbook writer, lexicographer and translator. His specialty was

Sami languages Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

, also called Lapp languages in his day.

Personal life and education

He was born in Vik i Helgeland as a son of politician Sivert Andreas Nielsen (1823–1904) and his wife Jonette Cornelie Falch Heide (1833–1925). In December 1924 he married Gudrun Augusta Agnes Müller (1889–1954). He was the father of diplomat Sivert Andreas Nielsen. Nielsen's family moved from Vik to

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

when Nielsen was eight years old. He

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 in 1892, and graduated from the

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 1896. However, he changed his specialty to Fennic languages. In 1897 and 1898 he took exams in

Kven KVEN (1520 AM, "La Voz 1520 AM & 96.3 FM") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language news/tal ...

and

, and from 1898 to 1899 he studied at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

Career

In July 1899 Nielsen was appointed as a lecturer in Kven and Sami at the Royal Frederick University. In 1903 he took the dr.philos. degree at the University of Helsinki with the thesis ''Die Quantitätsverhältnisse im Polmak-lappischen'', about the language in

Polmak Polmak ( and ) is a village in Tana Municipality in Troms og Finnmark Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The village is located on the south shore of the river Tana (Norway), Tana, just east of the border with Finland (and the northernmost po ...

. He was promoted to professor of

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...

in 1911. He ultimately retired as a professor in 1946, but had several absences of leave between 1911 and 1946. Among others, he sat 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 ...

as a member of the Reindeer Grazing Commission between 1913 and 1917. He was succeeded in 1947 by

Knut Bergsland Knut Bergsland (7 March 1914 – 9 July 1998) was a Norwegian linguist. Working as a professor at the University of Oslo from 1947 to 1981, he did groundbreaking research in Uralic (especially Sami) and Eskaleut languages. Career He was born in Kr ...

. His main works were in the Norwegian language. He released the textbook ''Lærebok i lappisk'' in three volumes between 1926 and 1929, and the dictionary ''Lappisk ordbok – Lapp Dictionary'' in three volumes between 1932 and 1938. In addition, he was a translator. He also helped the

Norwegian Geological Survey Geological Survey of Norway ( no, Norges geologiske undersøkelse), abbreviation: ''NGU'', is a Norwegian government agency responsible for geologic mapping and research. The agency is located in Trondheim with an office in Tromsø, with about 2 ...

with Sami place names. After the stay in Copenhagen, Nielsen lived with his family in

Vettakollen Vettakollen is a hill and neighbourhood in the borough of Vestre Aker in Oslo, Norway. The hill lies west of Sognsvann and southeast of Voksenåsen and Holmenkollen, and measures 419 metres above mean sea level. The estimated population in the Ve ...

. He also learned

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

and Hungarian.

Awards

He was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

and the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...

, and held an honorary degree at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

in 1946, was a Commander of the Finnish

Order of the White Rose The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. T ...

and the Estonian

Order of the Cross of the Eagle The Order of the Cross of the Eagle ( et, Kotkaristi teenetemärk; french: Ordre de la Croix de l'Aigle) was instituted in 1928 by the Estonian Defence League to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Estonian independence. It was adopted as a sta ...

, and a Knight of the Swedish

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

. He died in November 1953 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Konrad 1875 births 1953 deaths Norwegian philologists Norwegian lexicographers Norwegian translators University of Oslo alumni University of Helsinki alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class III