Elias Blix was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 professor, theologian, hymn writer, and a politician for the Liberal Party

Venstre (Norway)

The Liberal Party is a centrist liberal political party in Norway. The party is the oldest in the country, and has enacted reforms such as parliamentarism, freedom of religion, universal suffrage and free education. Since 2010, the leader of the party is Trine Skei Grande...

. Blix wrote numerous hymns and was largely responsible for translating the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 into the Norwegian language

Norwegian language

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

.

Biography

Born in Gildeskål

Gildeskål

Gildeskål is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inndyr. Gildeskål was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Beiarn was separated from Gildeskål in 1853...

, Salten

Salten

Salten is a district in Nordland in North Norway, consisting of the municipalities Meløy, Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen and Hamarøy. The district borders Helgeland in the south , Ofoten in the north, Sweden in the east and Vestfjorden in the west...

, in Nordland

Nordland

is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

 County, Norway. He attended a teacher seminary in Tromsø

Tromsø

Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...

  (1853-1855). After some years as a teacher in Tromsø, he moved to Christiania

Christiania

-Places:* Christiania or Kristiania, names of Oslo * Freetown Christiania , a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark* Christiania Township, Minnesota, a township in Jackson County...

 for studies in 1859. He was a student of Semitic languages

Semitic languages

The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...

. Blix graduated in 1860 and received his theological degree in 1866 and earned a Dr. philos. in 1876.

Blix worked as a teacher for 25 years at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

, where he taught Hebrew and Bible studies. Blix was Minister of Education and Church Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Royal Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research is a Norwegian responsible for education, research and kindergartens. The ministry was established in 1814, and since October 18, 2007 led by Tora Aasland and Kristin Halvorsen in 2009. The department reports to the legislature...

 in the Cabinet of Johan Sverdrup

Johan Sverdrup

Johan Sverdrup 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 years :...

 from 1884 to 1888, interrupted by a period as member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 in 1885–86.

Blix was also a proponent of the Nynorsk

Nynorsk

Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...

 language, as well as a composer of psalms and hymns. Among his best known hymns are Gud signe vårt dyre fedreland and No livnar det i lundar. His collection of psalms in the Nynorsk

Nynorsk

Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...

 language, published between the years 1869 to 1875, was in 1892 permitted for official use in the Church of Norway

Church of Norway

The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

, alongside the official version. Together with Johannes Belsheim

Johannes Belsheim

Johannes Engebretsen Belsheim was a Norwegian teacher, priest, translator and biographer. He is known for his studies of biblical handwritings, including the Codex Aureus, Codex Gigas, Codex Corbeiensis I, Codex Palatinus, Codex Veronensis, and Codex Claromontanus V...

  and Matias Skard

Matias Skard

Matias Skard was a Norwegian philologist, educator, psalmist, essayist and translator, a brother of folklorist Johannes Skar....

, Blix was a major contributor to the Nynorsk translation of the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

, which was published in 1890.

Nordlendingenes Forening was founded in 1862 by Elias Blix together with Norwegian educator, clergyman and engineer Ole Tobias Olsen (August 1830 - July 1924). The society is a fraternal association of people who have emigrated from the counties of Nordland

Nordland

is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

, Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 and Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 in Northern Norway. In honor of the society's 50th anniversary in 1912, a commemorative medal was first established in memory of Petter Dass

Petter Dass

Petter Dass was a Lutheran clergyman and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. -Biography:He was born at Northern Herøy , Nordland, Norway...

, the clergyman and poet from Helgeland

Helgeland

Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. The district covers an area of about , with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...

. The Petter Dass Medal (Petter Dass medaljen) is an award given annually by Nordlendingenes Forening, to people from Northern Norway who have distinguished themselves in their work for the region's development.

Blixprisen

Blix Prize (Blixprisen) is a literary prize awarded annually by the Norwegian publishing house, Det Norske Samlaget

Det Norske Samlaget

Det Norske Samlaget is a Norwegian publishing house founded on 24 March 1868 with the aim to promote and publish books in Landsmål, now known as Nynorsk....

, to an outstanding author from Northern Norway who writes in Nynorsk

Nynorsk

Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...

. The award is a monetary amount from the Emma and Elias Blix Endowment. The Endowment was established by Marie Blix (1873-1920) and Einar Blix (1880-1941) in the memory of their parents, Emma and Elias Blix.

Other sources

• Olsen, Kurt-Johnny (1986) Elias Blix, mannen og verket (Bodø) ISBN 82-991423-1-8
• Aschim, Anders (2008) Ein betre vår ein gong: Elias Blix: Biografi ISBN 978-82-521-6429-9

External links

• Elias Blix at Salten Museum
  Salten Museum
  The Salten Museum is a museum located in the center of Bodø, a town in North Norway. It includes several exhibitions that cover North-Norwegian culture and history....
  
  , Bodø
  Bodø
  is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
  
  
• Elias Blix 175 year Jubileum
• Family Genealogy (vestraat.net)