Rasmus Bjørn Anderson (January 12, 1846 – March 2, 1936) was an American author, professor, editor, businessman and diplomat. He brought to popular attention the fact that

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

and was the originator of

Leif Erikson Day Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson (Old Norse: ''Leifr Eiríksson'', is, Leifur Eiríksson, no, Leiv Eiriksson, Swedish: ''Leif Eriksson''), the Norse explorer who led the first Europeans ...

."Rasmus Anderson"
''Norske leksikon''.

Life and career

Anderson was born in the Town of Albion in Dane County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and grew up in Koshkoning. His parents Bjørn Anderson Kvelve (1801–1850) and Abel Cathrine von Krogh (1809–1885) were immigrants from Sandeid / Vikedal in Ryfylke in the county of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. His mother also had Danish, Swedish, German, Dutch, and Flemish ancestry. His parents were part of a small band of

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

sympathizers who organized a Norwegian emigration to America in 1836. His father died to

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

when Anderson was four years old. Anderson was a graduate of Luther College and the

University of Wisconsin 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 Stat ...

. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1867 to 1883. While there, he was the founding head of the Department of

Scandinavian Studies Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining ...

, the oldest such department in an American university. He also persuaded Norwegian violinist

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull ...

to give a concert for the benefit of a projected Norwegian language library at the university. Ole Bull subsequently paid Anderson's expenses for a trip to Norway to purchase books for the library. Rasmus B. Anderson founded a publication company, the

Norrœna Society The Norrœna Society was an organization dedicated to Northern European culture, that published sets of reprints of classic 19th-century editions, mostly translations, of Old Norse literary and historical works, Northern European folklore, and medi ...

, which focused on republishing translations of texts devoted to "the History and Romance of Northern Europe". Anderson was the author of a number of books with Scandinavian themes. He also did a series of translations from Scandinavian languages, most notably the writings of Norwegian novelist

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

. From 1905 to 1907, Rasmus Anderson acted as editor-in-chief of the Norrœna Library. From 1885 to 1889, Anderson served as the United States Ambassador to Denmark. After his return to the U.S. in 1889, he was editor (1898–1922) of the Norwegian language weekly, ''Amerika''. He also served as president of the Wisconsin Life Insurance Co. from 1895 to 1922. Anderson's book ''America Not Discovered by Columbus'' helped popularize the now familiar fact that Norse explorers were the first Europeans in the

. Anderson was the originator of the movement to honor

Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...

with a holiday in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Through efforts he started and led,

became an official observance in his native

and other US states. Decades after Anderson's death, it first became a federal observance by

presidential proclamation A presidential proclamation is a statement issued by a US president on an issue of public policy and is a type of presidential directive. Details A presidential proclamation is an instrument that: *states a condition, *declares a law and require ...

in 1964.Rasmus B. Anderson's Dream Comes True
. ''The Wisconsin State Journal'', May 11, 1929.

Personal life

In 1868, he married Bertha Karina Olson (1848–1922). They were the parents of five children. His wife died in 1922. Anderson spent the last years of his life in their home in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, where he died in 1936. He was buried at Lake Ripley Cemetery in Cambridge, Wisconsin.

Selected works

* ''Julegave'' (1872) * "''The Scandinavian Languages''" (1873) * ''Den norske maalsag'' (1874) * ''America Not Discovered by Columbus'' (1874) * ''Norse Mythology'' (1875) * ''Viking Tales of the North'' (1877) * ''The Younger Edda'' (1880) * a translation of Dr. F. W. Horns "History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North" (1885) *''Amerikas første Opdagelse'' (1886) *''First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, 1821–1840'' (1895) * ''Bygdejævning'' (1903) *''The Norse Discovery of America'' (1907) * ''Life Story of Rasmus B. Anderson'' (1915, with Albert O. Barton) * ''Cleng Peerson og sluppen "Restaurationen"'' (1925) * ''The Heimskringla or The Saga of the Norse Kings'' (1889, rev. 2nd ed. of Samuel Laing, ''The Norse Kings'')

References

Sources

*Husvedt, Lloyd. ''Rasmus Bjørn Anderson: Pioneer Scholar''. Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1966. *Knaplund, Paul.
Rasmus B. Anderson, Pioneer and Crusader
. ''Norwegian-American Studies'', vol. 18, p. 23.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Rasmus B. 1846 births 1936 deaths People from Albion, Dane County, Wisconsin Luther College (Iowa) alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark American translators American Lutherans Writers from Madison, Wisconsin Translators from Old Norse Old Norse studies scholars 19th-century American diplomats American people of Norwegian descent People from Koshkonong, Wisconsin