Søren Pedersen Jaabæk (1 April 1814 – 7 January 1894)
was a
Norwegian politician and farmer. Jaabæk is the longest-serving member 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 ...
in the history of Norway, and was one of the founders of the
Liberal Party of Norway
The Liberal Party (, , V; ) is a social liberal political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and is the oldest political party in Norway. Despite its native name, the Liberal Party is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and ...
.
Early life
Jaabæk was born in
Holum
Holum is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre was the village of Krossen where Holum Church is located. T ...
,
Lister og Mandals amt, Norway in 1814. After living in
Halse og Harkmark
Halse og Harkmark is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Halse, which at that time was a ...
for some years, he returned to Holum following his father's death in 1849. He began his professional life working in schools and churches. He served several terms as mayor of Holum and Halse og Harkmark between 1840 and 1890.
In 1845, he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament, where he served until 1891.
Political career
In 1865, Jaabæk founded (lit. "The Friends of the Peasants", inspired by
a Danish society of the same name), a political society of Norwegian farmers which evolved from a local group in
Mandal
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...
to a national movement, composed of more than 300 local bodies with approximately 30,000 members in total. Through Bondevennerne, Jaabæk introduced the open popular meeting to Norwegian politics, and the first Norwegian
cooperatives
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
emerged as offshoots of the Bondevennerne movement. Bondevennerne's main newspaper, ''
Folketidende'', was also founded by Jaabæk in Mandal in 1865. Jaabæk was elected chairman of Bondevennerne in 1868.
In parliamentary politics, Jaabæk eventually emerged as the leader of the oppositional alliance of farmers. He often sided with
Johan Sverdrup
Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism. Sverdrup was prime minister from 1884 to 1889.
Early year ...
, a major representative of the urban liberal opposition.
In 1869, Jaabæk and Sverdrup became political allies, thus establishing an alliance between the urban and the rural opposition, which would lead to the foundation of the
Liberal Party of Norway
The Liberal Party (, , V; ) is a social liberal political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and is the oldest political party in Norway. Despite its native name, the Liberal Party is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and ...
(led by Sverdrup) in 1884. By 1884, little remained of Bondevennerne. Some of the remaining bodies gradually became local Liberal bodies. Jaabæk never became one of the leading figures of the new party, but he remained a supporter of Sverdrup for the remainder of his political career. For his last parliamentary term, Jaabæk represented the
Moderate Liberal Party
The Moderate Liberal Party (, literally "Moderate Left") was a List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway that emerged from the moderate and religious branches of the Liberal Party (Norway), Liberal Party in 1888. The party's t ...
. He left the Norwegian Parliament in 1891.
[ In 1884 he was a co-founder of the ]Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's rights, women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political reform, ...
.
Jaabæk supported economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
and was widely known for his opposition to high governmental spending. His alleged stubbornness in economic matters earned him the nickname "Neibæk" ("No-bæk"). Due to his rationalistic approach to Christianity, as well as his view of positions in the church as ordinary professions, he became at odds with the Norwegian clergy in the 1870s. Jaabæk supported many democratic reforms, and spoke up for universal suffrage
Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...
and equal marriage rights for men and women.
Jaabæk died in 1894.
Bibliography
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaabaek, Soeren
1814 births
1894 deaths
Liberal Party (Norway) politicians
Mayors of places in Vest-Agder
Moderate Liberal Party politicians
Norwegian farmers
People from Mandal, Norway
Vest-Agder politicians
Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people
Norwegian newspaper publishers (people)
19th-century newspaper founders
Norwegian republicans
Members of the Storting 1889–1891
Members of the Storting 1886–1888
Members of the Storting 1883–1885
Members of the Storting 1880–1882
Members of the Storting 1877–1879
Members of the Storting 1874–1876
Members of the Storting 1871–1873
Members of the Storting 1868–1870
Members of the Storting 1865–1867
Members of the Storting 1862–1864
Members of the Storting 1859–1861
Members of the Storting 1857–1858
Members of the Storting 1854–1856
Members of the Storting 1851–1853
Members of the Storting 1848–1850
Members of the Storting 1845–1847