Anders Larsen (December 2, 1870 – December 10, 1949) was a

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

teacher, journalist, and writer. Larsen was born in Seglvik in

Kvænangen Municipality Kvænangen (; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. Other notable villages in the municipality include Alteide ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

county, Norway.''Store norske leksikon'': Anders Larsen.
/ref> His parents were Sea Sami. After working as a primary school teacher in the village of

Kokelv or is a village in Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland, along the Revsbotn fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inle ...

from 1895 to 1897, he attended the Tromsø normal school from 1897 to 1899. He then worked in

Rafsbotn , , or is a village in Alta Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The village sits at the southeast end of the Altafjorden, along the European route E6 highway, about northeast of the town of Alta. The name comes from the Sami place name w ...

from 1899 to 1902. He then worked in

Repparfjorden Repparfjorden is a fjord in Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It has a length of about , and cuts into Porsangerhalvøya from the west, southeast of the island of Kvaløya. Ocean dumping of mining waste, has not started (as o ...

, Neverfjorden, and Kokelv from 1902 to 1918. He taught in the

village of Sandstrand from 1918 to 1920 (at that time, it was part of

Trondenes Municipality Trondenes is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located along the western shore of the Vågsfjorden in what is now Harstad Municipality. Trondenes included th ...

). From 1920 to 1940, he worked at the Sørvikmark school (now in

Harstad Municipality Harstad (; ) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, which is the most populous town in Central Håloga ...

). Larsen served as the editor of the Sami newspaper ''

Saǥai Muittalægje ''Saǥai Muittalægje'' was an early Sámi newspaper published twice a month from July 1904 to September 1911. Although only 33 issues were published, ''Saǥai Muittalægje'' played an important role in building Sámi identity and supporting opp ...

'' (The News Reporter) from 1904 to 1911. The newspaper was published twice a month. In 1912, he self-published the first Sami novel, ''Bæivve-Alggo'' (Dawn). The novel contains depictions of Sea Sami life, following the protagonist Ábo Eira through various stages of life. The novel depicts the consequences of the Norwegianization policy for the Sami language and self-image. The novel counteracts the Sami sense of inferiority towards the Norwegians, and it is also a protest against Norwegian society's contempt for the Sami. In the fall of 1949, the same year that he died, Larsen sent a manuscript about Sea Sami life and living conditions to the philologist Just Knud Qvigstad. Qvigstad translated it into Norwegian and published it as ''Om sjøsamene'' (The Sea Sami) in 1950. The text was first published in Sami in 1979 as ''Mearrasámiid birra'' in Larsen's Kvænangen dialect in the

Tromsø Museum Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

series ''

Acta Borealia ''Acta Borealia'' is an interdisciplinary research journal dedicated to cultural studies. It was established in 1984. It is published in English by Routledge and is based at the Tromsø University Museum and University of Tromsø The Univers ...

''. There is a myth that Larsen "fled" from Finnmark county in 1918. In fact, he simply moved to the district where his wife was born (to Melvik near Sørvik). Here he continued his efforts for "the same right as other people to life's table" (''samme rett som andre folk til livets bord''),Bjørklund, Ivar. 1985. ''Fjordfolket i Kvænangen: fra samisk samfunn til norsk utkant 1550-1980''. Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget, p. 324. as he phrased it. Larsen died in Sørvikmark in

Sandtorg Municipality Sandtorg is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the southern part of what is now Harstad Municipality on the eastern coast of the island of H ...

(now part of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Anders People from Kvænangen 1870 births 1949 deaths Sámi journalists Sámi schoolteachers Norwegian Sámi writers Norwegian schoolteachers 19th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian Sámi-language writers