Personal life

Ole Hersted Schjøtt was born in 1805 to shipmaster Niels M. Schjøtt and his wife Anne Hersted. The family moved from their native Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 to Christiania in 1808.

In 1828 he married Anna Jacobine Olrog, daughter of Peter Olrog and his wife Margarete, née Gluckstadt. Their most prominent children were Peter Olrog Schjøtt, who became professor in Greek language, and philologist Steinar Schjøtt

Steinar Schjøtt

Steinar Schjøtt was a Norwegian educator, philologist and lexicographer.-Personal life:Steinar Schjøtt was born to priest and politician Ole Hersted Schjøtt and his wife Anna Jacobine, née Olrog, in Porsgrund where his father was stationed as vicar...

. He was born Stener Johannes Stenersen Schjøtt, named after professor of theology Stener Johannes Stenersen, but later adhered to Landsmål

Landsmål

Landsmål, meaning "language of the land/country", was the name Ivar Aasen gave the Norwegian orthography he created in the 19th century. In 1885 it was adopted as an official language in Norway alongside Danish. In 1929, Landsmål was renamed Nynorsk...

 and Norwegianized his name.

Career

Schjøtt enrolled at the University of Christiania

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...

 in 1822 and graduated as cand.theol.

Cand.theol.

Candidatus theologiæ , Candidata theologiæ , abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six year higher education in theology in Denmark and Norway. In Norway, the title has remained after the "Quality Reform", though it is equivalent to a Master of...

 in 1827. He was appointed vicar in Hegeborstad

Hægebostad

Hægebostad is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Hægebostad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

 parish in 1829. He later became vicar in Dybvaag

Dypvåg

Dypvåg is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is currently located within the municipality of Tvedestrand in the traditional region of Sørlandet about east of the village of Tvedestrand.-Name:...

 in 1832, Porsgrund

Porsgrunn

is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....

 in 1839 and Skien

Skien

' is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county....

 in 1845. He stayed in this position until his death in 1848.

As a politician, Ole Hersted Schjøtt was elected mayor of Porsgrund

Porsgrunn

is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....

municipality for the year 1842. He held the position of vice mayor in 1841, 1843 and 1844. He was among the founders of the first temperance society in Porsgrund, named the Porsgrunds Forening mod Brændevins-Drik, founded in December 1845 with Schjøtt as chairman.