Søren Georg Abel (3 January 1772 – 5 May 1820) was a Norwegian priest and politician, also known as the father of mathematician

Niels Henrik Abel Niels Henrik Abel ( , ; 5 August 1802 – 6 April 1829) was a Norwegian mathematician who made pioneering contributions in a variety of fields. His most famous single result is the first complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solvin ...

Personal life

Søren Georg Abel was born on 3 January 1772 in Mo, Telemark as the son of Hans Mathias Abel (1738–1803) and Elisabeth Knuth Normann (1737–1817).Genealogy
(vestraat.net) In 25 March 1800, he married Anne Marie Simonsen. Their second oldest son was

(1802-1829), the world-famous mathematician. Søren Georg Abel was also a great-grandfather of the politician Hans Prydz (1868–1957).

Career

Søren Georg Abel enrolled as a student of

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theology in 1788 and graduated as cand.theol. in 1792. In 1794 he was hired as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

under his father, who was

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 p ...

in '' Gierestad og Wegaardsheien'' parish. As Abel maintained ties with Peder Hansen, bishop of Agder, Hansen suggested that Abel be appointed vicar in

Bygland Bygland is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Setesdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bygland ...

in 1798. This never materialized, but Abel was appointed vicar in Findøe the next year. Regarding this position as a stepping stone, in 1801 Abel unsuccessfully applied for the vicarships in

Sigdal Sigdal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss. The municipality of Sigdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see forman ...

, Holle and Aas.Søren Georg Abel
at Norwegian Priest History He remained in Findøe, and Niels Henrik Abel was born there in 1802. In 1803 his father, the vicar, died. Abel applied for the vacant vicarship in Gierestad. Following a testimonial from Bishop Hansen and County Governor Koren, he was appointed. He later applied for ten other vicarships, but was not appointed and remained in Gierestad. In 1806 he published ''Religions-spørgsmaal med Svar, indrettede efter de unges Fatte-evne'', a well-known explanation of

Luther's Small Catechism Luther's Small Catechism () is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Bapti ...

.Catechism explanations in Norway
— Norsk Lærerakademi In 1814 he was elected to the first session of the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...

, representing the rural constituency Nedenæs Amt (today named Aust-Agder). He was not re-elected in 1815, but returned in 1818 to serve a final term.Søren Georg Abel
– Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) He died on 5 May 1820.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Soeren Georg 1772 births 1820 deaths People from Tokke Aust-Agder politicians Norwegian priest-politicians Niels Henrik Abel Members of the Storting 1818–1820 Members of the Storting 1814