Marta Steinsvik
Encyclopedia
Marta Steinsvik was a Norwegian author and translator. She was a champion of women's rights and promoter of the use of Nynorsk
. She was the first female to graduate from the Norwegian School of Theology
.
, but never finished her studies because she was against vivisection
. She studied several other subjects including Egyptology
in London
. In 1902, Marta Steinsvik studied oriental languages including Assyrian
and ancient Egyptian
. She also became interested in Esotericism
. She was influenced by the thinking of both English Theosophist, Annie Besant
and Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner
. She was the first woman to graduate from the Norwegian School of Theology, but was not allowed to practice. She was the first Norwegian woman to preach in a church, during 1910 at the Grønland
church in Oslo
. She was invited to an international women's conference in Geneva
, and planned to give a talk on women priests, until the Pope
forbade all Catholic
women to attend if she did, forcing her to give a speech on another subject.
In 1894 she started writing in the newspaper, Den 17de Mai
, which had been started that same year by her future husband Rasmus Steinsvik
. She was employed as secretary to Hans Tambs Lyche
, editor and founder of the cultural journal Kringsjaa
. In 1910 she became editor of the paper Kringsjaa. She was multilingual and translated several books into Nynorsk
, including Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte
written by Mark Twain
and Quo vadis? written by Henryk Sienkiewicz
.
Marta published Frimodige ytringer, ("Frank Speech") in 1946. It was about the Norwegian treatment of suspects when they were punishing traitors after the Second World War. The book includes examples of Norwegian resistance movement
torturing suspected Nazi
sympathizers in the summer of 1945. It also discussed the legality of withdrawing a group's human rights, (those who were members of Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian National Socialist party, after 9 April 1940), by an ex post facto law that set aside the Hague Convention
which Norway had ratified.
The papers left behind on her death are currently being organised at the Norwegian cultural institution, The Blue Colour Works. Several people have announced their plans to write a book about Marta Steinsvik.
near Flekkefjord
in the county of Vest-Agder
, Norway
. Both of her parents Torkild Tonstad (1852–1908) and Ingeborg Evertsdatter Haugan (1848–1922) came from old farming families. Her father worked as a teacher in Flekkefjord and owned the farm Skjeggestad, where Marta lived until she was three years old.
On 16 May 1896, she married Rasmus Steinsvik (1863–1913), the founder and editor of Den 17de Mai. She had problems in childbirth and her doctor told her a sixth child would be likely to kill her, so she moved away from her husband. Her husband had a friend who was a doctor who diagnosed her as insane as soon as he heard she believed in reincarnation
, and her husband had her committed. While institutionalized, she took the opportunity to study psychology
. Another doctor became interested in her case and was able to get her released. This episode was often later used against her in newspaper debates. Her husband died in 1913 after an operation, barely 50 years old.
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...
. She was the first female to graduate from the Norwegian School of Theology
MF Norwegian School of Theology
The Norwegian School of Theology , is a private, independent, accredited Norwegian specialised university...
.
Biography
Steinsvik studied medicine in KristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, but never finished her studies because she was against vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
. She studied several other subjects including Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1902, Marta Steinsvik studied oriental languages including Assyrian
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
and ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
. She also became interested in Esotericism
Esotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
. She was influenced by the thinking of both English Theosophist, Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
and Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
. She was the first woman to graduate from the Norwegian School of Theology, but was not allowed to practice. She was the first Norwegian woman to preach in a church, during 1910 at the Grønland
Grønland
Grønland is a neighbourhood in central Oslo, Norway. It is served by several tram and bus lines, as well as the Oslo Metro at the Grønland Station....
church in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. She was invited to an international women's conference in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, and planned to give a talk on women priests, until the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
forbade all Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
women to attend if she did, forcing her to give a speech on another subject.
In 1894 she started writing in the newspaper, Den 17de Mai
Den 17de Mai
Den 17de Mai is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1894 to 1935.The founder and first editor-in-chief of Den 17de Mai was Rasmus Steinsvik, who edited the newspaper until his death in 1913. Arne Garborg was co-editor the first four years. Later editors were Anders Hamre and Einar...
, which had been started that same year by her future husband Rasmus Steinsvik
Rasmus Steinsvik
Rasmus Steinsvik was a Norwegian writer, magazine editor and newspaper editor. He was born in Volda, and was married to Marta Steinsvik. He edited the magazine Fedraheimen from 1889 to 1891, and started the newspaper Den 17de Mai in 1894, which he edited until his death...
. She was employed as secretary to Hans Tambs Lyche
Hans Tambs Lyche
Hans Tambs Lyche was a Norwegian engineer, unitarian minister, journalist and magazine editor.-Background:...
, editor and founder of the cultural journal Kringsjaa
Kringsjaa
Kringsjaa was a periodical which was published weekly from 1893–1910. It was published by Olaf Norlis forlag in Kristiania. The paper was around 80–100 pages, and was based on subscription...
. In 1910 she became editor of the paper Kringsjaa. She was multilingual and translated several books into 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...
, including Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Mark Twain's work on Joan of Arc is titled in full, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte, who is identified further as Joan's page and secretary...
written by Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
and Quo vadis? written by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
.
Marta published Frimodige ytringer, ("Frank Speech") in 1946. It was about the Norwegian treatment of suspects when they were punishing traitors after the Second World War. The book includes examples of Norwegian resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
torturing suspected Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
sympathizers in the summer of 1945. It also discussed the legality of withdrawing a group's human rights, (those who were members of Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian National Socialist party, after 9 April 1940), by an ex post facto law that set aside the Hague Convention
Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)
The Hague Conventions were two international treaties negotiated at international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands: The First Hague Conference in 1899 and the Second Hague Conference in 1907...
which Norway had ratified.
The papers left behind on her death are currently being organised at the Norwegian cultural institution, The Blue Colour Works. Several people have announced their plans to write a book about Marta Steinsvik.
Selected works
- Ægteskabet og forplantningen, 1910
- Gammelægyptiske mysterie-indvielser, 1917
- Bispen: eit sjæle-drama i 3 akter, 1918
- Isis-sløret: mysterie-drama i 5 akter, 1921
- Sankt Peters himmelnøkler, 1928
- Hellig Olav og Den norske statskirke, 1930
- Kvinner som prester, 1934
- Frimodige ytringer, 1946
Personal life
She was born Marta Tonstad on the farm Skjeggestad in BakkeBakke, Norway
Bakke is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located along the eastern shore of Lundevatn along the Rogaland county border.-History:...
near Flekkefjord
Flekkefjord
is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.The town of Flekkefjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The rural municipalities of Bakke, Gyland, Hidra, and Nes were merged with Flekkefjord on 1 January 1965.Flekkefjord is the westernmost town of the...
in the county of Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder
In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...
, Norway
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...
. Both of her parents Torkild Tonstad (1852–1908) and Ingeborg Evertsdatter Haugan (1848–1922) came from old farming families. Her father worked as a teacher in Flekkefjord and owned the farm Skjeggestad, where Marta lived until she was three years old.
On 16 May 1896, she married Rasmus Steinsvik (1863–1913), the founder and editor of Den 17de Mai. She had problems in childbirth and her doctor told her a sixth child would be likely to kill her, so she moved away from her husband. Her husband had a friend who was a doctor who diagnosed her as insane as soon as he heard she believed in reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
, and her husband had her committed. While institutionalized, she took the opportunity to study psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. Another doctor became interested in her case and was able to get her released. This episode was often later used against her in newspaper debates. Her husband died in 1913 after an operation, barely 50 years old.