Olav Kristian Strømme (November 22, 1907 – August 19, 1976) was a Norwegian Lutheran priest. He also established himself as a local historian and genealogical researcher, but he is best known for his fundraising activity for many aid projects. Through announcements in newspapers, he encouraged people to donate money to projects that had been started by Norwegian missionaries, and the sums that he collected through the ads gave him the reputation of an entire aid organization in one individual.

Biography

Strømme received his degree in theology in 1932 and served as a vicar in several locations until he became a deacon at Kristiansand Cathedral in 1942. Here he remained, while his position changed over the years to perpetual curate and then resident curate. His duties included service as a prison priest and a hospital priest. However, it was as a fundraising organizer that he became known, a task he dedicated himself to until he died in 1976. He left behind

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3.3 million collected for various projects, and this provided the basis to create the Strømme Foundation to continue the work that Strømme had started. At Strømme's funeral, Kristiansand Cathedral was filled, and outside the church there were thousands more people that were unable to enter the church.

Fundraising

In 1964, the missionary Agnar Espegren appeared on the television program ''Vi går ombord'' hosted by

Erik Bye Erik Erikssønn Bye (March 1, 1926 – October 13, 2004) was a versatile Norwegian-American journalist, artist, author, film actor, folk singer and radio and television personality. He was one of the 20th century's most well-known and popular r ...

. There he described his work with drug addicts in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. After the broadcast, contact was established between Strømme and Espegren, and fundraising took off quickly. Strømme's frank ability to ask for donations for relief work was greatly rewarded, and many received extra funding for initiatives that they could not otherwise afford.

Awards

In 1973, Strømme received the

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.

Legacy

The Strømme Foundation is named after Olav Kristian Strømme.

References

External links

Catalog of works by Olav Kristian Strømme
at the

Regional State Archives in Kristiansand The Regional State Archives in Kristiansand () is a regional state archives situated in Kristiansand, Norway. Part of the National Archival Services of Norway, it is responsible for archiving documents from state institutions in the counties of No ...