Johannes B. Wist (6 April 1864 –1 December 1923) was a

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

newspaper editor, journalist and author.

Biography

Born Johannes Racinus Benjaminsen, he was the son of Benjamin Olaus Johansen Wist (1829–97) and Magdalena Arnoldusdatter Sliper (1836–66). He was born on the Sund farm in

Inderøy Municipality Inderøy is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen, Trøn ...

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

county, Norway. He immigrated to the United States in 1884 during his early 20s. He lived in Minnesota and Wisconsin prior to settling in

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is the largest city in and county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of Iowa ...

. Wist served as editor of a number of Norwegian-language newspaper serving the immigrant

community. He was the editor of ''Fakkelen'' (

Glenwood, Minnesota Glenwood is a city in, and the county seat of, Pope County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2020 census. It is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Minnewaska. History Glenwood was platted in 1866, and named f ...

1885–1886), '' Arbeitets Ridder'' (

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

1886–1887), ''Skandinavisk Tribune'' (

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

1887–1888), ''Nordvesten'' (

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

1889–1897), and ''Norge'' (

Granite Falls, Minnesota Granite Falls is a city located mostly in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat with a small portion in Chippewa County, Minnesota. The population was 2,737 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Andrew J ...

1899–1900). Most notable Wist was the editor of the ''

Decorah-Posten ''Decorah-Posten'' was a notable Norwegian-language newspaper published in Decorah, Iowa. It was founded in 1874 by Brynild Anundsen, a native of Skien, Norway, and widely read by Scandinavian immigrants in several states. History Its orig ...

'' from 1901 until his death in 1923. During the period 1905 to 1914, he additionally was the founder and co-editor of '' Symra'', a literary magazine which was also published in

. In 1914, he edited a survey of the Norwegian-American press entitled ''Norsk-amerikanernes festskrift'' (Decorah, Iowa: Symra Co., 1914). Wist was also the Norwegian vice-consul of the

State of Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

from 1906 to 1917. Wist wrote a column in ''Decorah-Posten'' about a fictional Norwegian pioneer named Jonas Olsen. Originally published serially during the 1920s, the stories were subsequently published in book form. With translation by

Orm Øverland Orm Harald Øverland (17 May 1935 – 1 December 2021) was a Norwegian literary historian. He was born in Oslo and grew up in that city as well as in Bryne, Montreal, and Aukra. He graduated with the cand.philol. degree from the University of Osl ...

, professor at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

, the book has been published in English as ''The Rise of Jonas Olsen: A Norwegian Immigrant's Saga'' (University of Minnesota Press; 2005)

Personal life

Wist was a Progressive Republican who held membership in the Norwegian Lutheran Synod. In 1885, Wist married Josephine Aasve (1859-1938) who was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants. They were the parents of four children: Clara, Benjamin, Annie and Joseph.

References

Other sources

* Hoerder, Dirk and Christiane Harzig (1987) ''Migrants from Northern Europe. The immigrant labor press in North America, 1840s–1970s'' (New York: Greenwood Press) * Øverland, Orm (1996) ''The Western Home: A Literary History of Norwegian America'' (Norwegian-American Historical Association) * Øverland, Orm (2000) ''Minds, American Identities: Making the United States Home, 1870–1930'' (University of Illinois Press)

External links

Portrait of Johannes Wist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wist, Johannes B. 1864 births 1923 deaths People from Inderøy Norwegian emigrants to the United States Writers from Iowa American male journalists People from Decorah, Iowa American magazine editors American newspaper editors American Lutherans