Nicolai Wergeland was a Norwegian priest, writer and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll

Eidsvoll

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...

 that wrote the Constitution of Norway

Constitution of Norway

The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...

 on 17 May 1814. He was elected as one of two delegates from Christiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

 to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814. He represented the unionist side, and came very well prepared to Eidsvoll, bringing his own constitution draft. Along with him from Christiansand came wholesaler Ole Clausen Mørch

Ole Clausen Mørch

Ole Clausen Mørch was a Norwegian politician.He was born in Christianssand as the son of Claus Mørch and Johanne Marie Halkier. He married Cathrine Margrethe Tobiesen in June 1797, and the couple had two daughters and two sons...

.

Family

Wergeland's family hailed from Brekke

Brekke

Brekke is a village and former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the northeastern part of the present-day municipality of Gulen in the traditional district of Sogn...

 in Sogn. His father was Halvor Lassesen, a teacher and parish clerk in Hosanger

Hosanger

Hosanger is a former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway.-History:The parish of Hosanger was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 ....

.

Wergeland's daughter Camilla Collett

Camilla Collett

Jacobine Camilla Collett was a Norwegian writer, often referred to as the first Norwegian feminist. She was also the younger sister of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, and is recognized as being one of the first contributors to realism in Norwegian literature...

, author of the novel Amtmandens døttre ("The Governor's Daughters", 1854, anonymously), is regarded as Norway's first feminist writer.
The son Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...

 is often characterized as Norway's national poet, and a symbol of the country's independence. Wergeland was also father of military officer Oscar Wergeland

Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland

Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland was a Norwegian military officer, cartographer and skiing pioneer.-Personal life:Wergeland was born in Christianssand and grew up at Eidsvold. He was the son of priest and politician Nicolai Wergeland, and a brother of the poet Henrik Wergeland and feminist writer...

, and proprietor Harald Titus Alexis Wergeland. His nephew, mountaineer, lieutenant general and government minister Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland

Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland

Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland was a Norwegian military officer, politician and mountaineer. Having reached the rank of Major General by 1859, he served as Minister of the Army for several periods between 1857 and 1868. He later became Lieutenant General...

 grew up with the family, when the young mother, Wergeland's sister, became a widow.

Career

Wergeland studied theology in Copenhagen. As he did not come from a wealthy family, his economic conditions were so difficult that he considered enlisting as a soldier. He became a 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 1803, served as a curate in Christianssand from 1812, a vicar to Eidsvold from 1816, and rural dean in Eidsvold from 1822.

He became well known for winning a contest arranged by Selskabet for Norges Vel in 1811, coming up with the best writing arguing for a separate Norwegian university in Christiania, with Mnemosyne (published 1811).

In Christianssand he was an active participant at Det Dramatiske Selskab, which had been founded by his father-in-law.

He was elected delegate to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814, where he was a member of the constitution committee. He participated actively also in the plenary sessions, with long and well-prepared speeches. His unionist and anti-Danish point of view made him less popular among delegates with a different opininon.

Throughout his life Wergeland participated actively in political and cultural debates, published several works, experimented with drawing and painting, and composed music.

Selected bibliography

• Haldor Smeks smaae Tildragelser i Livet, Eventyr, Bemærkninger og Meninger: et humoristisk Skrift i den yorickske Smag
• Hendricopoedie: kortfattede Love for Opdragelsen fra den spædeste Alder: en Lommebog for Forældre (1808)
• Haldor Smeks Tildragelser efter hans Hjemkomst: en Fortsættelse, der indeholder en Deel af hans Ungdoms Amouretter (1809)
• Mnemosyne : et Forsøg paa at besvare den af Det kongl. Selskab for Norges Vel fremsatte Opgave om et Universitet i Norge: et Priisskrift Wergeland (1811)
• Cantate til Universitets-Festen den 11. Decb. 1811 (1811)
• Slaget ved Lyngøer den 6 Juli 1812: et Digt (1812)
• Sang i Anledning af Hans Høyhed Prinds Christian Frederiks Nærværelse i Christiansand den 14. August 1813 (1813)
• En politisk Tale til det norske Folk (1814)
• Udkast til Grundlov for Kongeriget Norge paa Rigsforsamlingen paa Eidsvold 1814 (1814)
• Kong Christian Frederik mishandlet: Beviser derfor i aftvungne Ord om Capellanen Hr. Nicolaj Wergeland og hans Flyveblad "Et Ord til Publikum" mod W. Sebbelow Sebbelow, Wincents Lassen (1815)
• En sandfærdig Beretning om Danmarks politiske Forbrydelser imod Kongeriget Norge fra Aar 955 indtil 1814, eller fra Hakon Adelsteens Krig med Harald Blaatand, indtil Fredsslutningen i Kiel (1816)
• Tilintetgjørelse af alle fiendtlige Anfald paa det af Sandheden selv befæstede Skrift: "Beretning om Danmarks politiske Forhold imod Kongeriget Norge" o.s.v. (1817)
• Afskeds-Tale holden for Christiansands Menighed 11te Mai 1817 og efter Ønske udgivet i Trykken (1817)
• Bemærkninger over skriftet: "En sandfærdig beretning om Danmarks politiske forbrydelser imod kongeriget Norge fra 995 til 1814. En historisk skisse Falsen, Christian Magnus (1817)
• Fortrolige Breve til en Ven, skrevne fra Eidsvold i Aaret 1814 (1830)
• Smaae Poesier (1830)
• Fjorten Paragrapher Kirke- og Underviisnings-Væsenet vedkommende (1832)
• Retfærdig Bedømmelse af Henrik Wergelands Poesi og Karakteer: en æsthetisk-polemisk Afhandling foranlediget ved J.S. Welhavens uefterrettelige Kritik i Skriftet "H. Wergelands Digtekunst og Polemik" (1833)
• Psalmer om Jesu Christi Lidelse, Død og Begravelse: fra den svenske Psalmebog uddragne, oversatte, omarbejdede og bekjendte Melodier tillempede; med Tillæg (1833)
• Forsvar for det norske Folk og udførlig Kritik over det berygtede Skrift Norges Dæmring (1835)
• Lærebog i den Evangelisk-Luthersk Christelige Religion: efter Luthers Katechismus og Pontoppidans Forklaring (1936)
• Den franske Stilist, eller Lexikalsk og grammatikalsk Underviisning i det franske Sprog : med Hensyn til nyeste Brug: en Haandbog for Norske og Danske Wergeland (1841)
• Sørgetale over Hans Majestæt høisalig Kong Carl Johan, holden i Eidsvold kirke den 28 April 1844 (1844)
• Rejse fra Havre de Grace til Christiania: indeholdende flere forskjellige tildeels kyniske Eventyr,stærkt spækket med Anekdoter og Riim, Charader og Gaader (1848)
• Tanker og Bekjendelser (1848)