Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (4 February 1840 – 11 December 1910) was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Biography

Skrefsrud came from the parish of

Fåberg Fåberg is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 when it became part of Lillehammer Municipality in Innlandet county. The administrative c ...

situated north of

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. As a young man he was imprisoned for three years, and during his incarceration started to both read the Bible and study languages. Upon his release, he studied at the missionary school of Johannes Evangelista Goßner in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he was prepared for his mission. In 1863, he left for India. Together with Hans Peter Børresen he is regarded as the founder of the

Norwegian Santal Mission The Norwegian Santal Mission () was a Norwegian humanitarian and missionary organisation that was mainly active in India, particularly among the Santhal people. It was affiliated with the (Lutheran) Norwegian State Church and existed from 1867 until ...

(''Den norske Santalmisjon'') (from 2001 a part of Normisjon). Skrefsrud learned the language of the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. He published a songbook in the

Santali language Santali (, , , , ) is a Kherwarian languages, Kherwarian Munda languages, Munda language spoken natively by the Santals, Santal people of South Asia. It is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, ...

with Christian texts for local melodies and later a grammar for the Santal people. In 1881–83, he traveled to Denmark and Norway to gain support for the mission. In 1882, he was ordained by Bishop

Carl Peter Parelius Essendrop Carl Peter Parelius Essendrop (6 June 1818 – 18 October 1893) was a Norwegian Lutheran priest, educator and Bishop of Oslo. Biography Essendrop was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Peter Essendrop (1776-1819) an ...

in Kristiania (now Oslo). Skrefsrud died during 1910 in the village of Benagaria in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

, India. He was followed at the mission by the missionary, linguist and folklorist

Paul Olaf Bodding Paul Olaf Bodding (2 November 1865 – 25 September 1938) was a Norwegian missionary, linguist and folklorist. Biography Paul Olaf Bodding was born at Gjøvik in Oppland, Norway. He was the son of Edward Olsen Bodding (1825–1905) and Betzy E ...

. The mission he established in India has grown to a church with over 150,000 members in the Indian states of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. In the 1950s it became an independent institution - The

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) is a multi-lingual Lutheran Christian church that is centred mainly in four states of North India - Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Bengal. The reach of the Church extends into Nepal and the NEL ...

(NELC).

References

External links

Normisjon website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skrefsrud, Lars Olsen 1840 births 1910 deaths People from Lillehammer 19th-century Norwegian clergy Norwegian Lutheran missionaries Linguists from Norway Lutheran missionaries in India Missionary linguists Norwegian expatriates in India 19th-century Lutherans

Biography

References

Related reading

External links