Nils Andreas Økland
(10 June 1882 – 1969) was a
Norwegian
Esperantist
and teacher in
Stord (Hordaland)
, Norway.
[1]
He spent some years in his youth on the island
Utsira
, where his father was a school teacher. Nils Økland was married to Hanna Olava Bergstøl, and they had 3 sons. His father Matthias Larsen Økland (b. 1844) was also a school teacher and a church chorister; his mother was Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853) from
Eidsvag
.
[2]
Having learned
Esperanto
indirectly through his friend
Haldor Midthus
by 1904, he served as president on the executive council of Stord's
Norwegian Esperanto League
branch.
Brief biography
[
edit
]
Born in
Valestrand
in 1882, Økland was confirmed in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in 1896; the parish priest made particular note of his "knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction."
[3]
By 1900 he was a student at a Stord teachers training college.
[4]
Beginning in the spring of 1904, Økland taught Esperanto courses at the
Bethania Waisenhus
in
Stavanger
.
[5]
Under the direction of the Stavanger parish priest, the Bethania complex, housing about 150 orphans in three
asylum buildings
and a further 20 to 30 young offenders in a separate
youth detention center
on
Lindøy
, operated a printing shop producing newspapers,
religious tracts
and books.
[6]
In the early period of the
movement
's growth he propagated the
planned language
among his colleagues and through
newspaper and magazine articles
. In 1910 and 1912 he taught adult Esperanto courses in
Haugesund
, and in 1932 he taught a children's Esperanto course in Stord. Økland was a school inspector in
Rogaland
for some years. He was also Stord's
county mayor
(ordførar)
from 1932 to 1934, representing the party
Venstre
.
[7]
Author
[
edit
]
Økland wrote a book of
poetry
,
Heime og ute
, (Home and abroad), published in
Kristiania
(Oslo) by
Olaf Norlis forlag
in 1917. This book contains 27 poems, and it includes translations of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
and
Heinrich Heine
.
In 1940 he wrote a short
biography
of
David Livingstone
, published by Norsk Bokreidingslag in
Bergen
. Both books were written in
nynorsk
.
Øklandhuset
[
edit
]
During his time as the schoolteacher in Haugesund, Økland had had a simple house built just west of the school.
[8]
After World War II that house, still known as
Øklandhuset
("Økland's house") was owned by
Sofie Haland
, who lived on the main floor and rented out the other two floors to
Agnes Vikshaland
, a seamstress. She kept her sewing studio in the attic and also operated a store in the basement.
[8]
Økland died in
Haugesund
.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the birth on 10 June 1882 and baptism on 25 June 1882 of Nils Andreas Økland to Kirkesanger M.(atthias) L.(arsen) Økland (1844?1931) and Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853), living at Ulveraker. One of the godparents was Nils Larsen Økland.
- ^
Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the wedding on 3 July 1872 of "Gardmann, Lærer" Matthias Larsen Økland, 28, son of Gardmann Lars Nilsen Økland, to Signi Nilsdatter from Eidsvaag, 20, daughter of Gardmand Nils Kristoffersen, Eidsvaag.
- ^
Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the confirmation on 20 September 1896 of Nils Andreas Mathiassen Økland, born 10 June 1882 at Ulveraker (Økland), baptised 25 June 1882; parents Kirkesanger Mathias Larssen Økland and wife Signy Nilsdatter; vaccinated against smallpox on 5 July 1983; knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction.
- ^
Nils Økland (born 1882, in Valestrand) is listed in the 1900 census for the Stord District of
Hordaland
, as an unmarried "solitary lodger" and student of the Stord teachers training college. He was one of six such students renting lodgings from Ole Ingebrigtsen
Rommetveit
(b. 1825 in
Tysnæs
) and his wife Anna Jakobsdatter (b. 1836 in Tysnæs).
- ^
Esperanto-Nytt,
Norsk Esperanto-Forbund, January 2004 (Norwegian)
- ^
Bøye Strøm,
Topografisk-Statistisk beskrivelse over Stavanger Amt
, Kristiania (Oslo), 1888, pp. 119?120
- ^
[1]
Utdrag arkivkatalog Stord 1838?1965
in Interkommunalt arkiv Hordaland (Norwegian)
- ^
a
b
Fra Nærbutikk til Supermarked
(From Neighbourhood Store to Supermarket (Norwegian), a history of stores in Torvastad, ca.1900?1997