Arent Bjørnsen Solem (22 October 1777 – 8 February 1857) was a Norwegian merchant and a prominent member of the

Haugean The Haugean movement or Haugeanism () was a Pietistic state church reform movement intended to bring new life and vitality into the Church of Norway, which had been often characterized by formalism and lethargy. The movement emphasized personal ...

Movement (''haugianere'').

Background

Arent Bjørnsen Solem was born in Klæbu, Søndre Trondhjems Amt, Norway. He was born to farmer Bjørn Olsen Solem (1742–1797) and his wife Magnhild Olsdatter ( 1742–??). Although little is known about Solem's early life, it is known that he traveled to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

where he worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

. He later made success as a merchant and property investor in Trondheim, before he established a flax weavery in

Moholt Moholt is a neighborhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is situated in the borough of Lerkendal in Trondheim Municipality. It is located south of Tyholt and north of Loholt. The area is dominated by housing, including ...

Career

He became a successful entrepreneur and trusted follower of

Hans Nielsen Hauge Hans Nielsen Hauge (3 April 1771 – 29 March 1824) was a 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, spiritual leader, business entrepreneur, social reformer and author. He led a noted Pietism revival known as the Haugean movement. Hauge is al ...

, leader of the

Movement. He married Randi Nideng (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Lauvaas) in the beginning of the 19th century, with whom he maintained a hospitable home. Solem made success as a merchant and property investor in both

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

and Christiania (now Oslo). After advice from

, Solem bought the fishing and trade centre

Sør-Gjæslingan Sør-Gjæslingan is an archipelago in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island group is located in at the entrance to the Folda fjord, about to the southwest of the town of Rørvik and about to the southeast of the Nord ...

in Sør-Trøndelag.After Hauge's death in 1824, Solem's connection with the Haugean movement was weakened. In 1825, Solem moved to Christiania, where he bought the farms Sandaker and

Storo Storo (''Stòr'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southwest of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,554 and an area of .Al ...

and started a mill-and-saw enterprise at

Bjølsen Bjølsen is a neighbourhood in the Sagene borough in central-northern Oslo, Norway. Originally a farm in the former Aker municipality, it was incorporated into Christiania (now Oslo) in 1878. It has been sawmill and mill operation as far back a ...

. Solem and his wife lived at the Sandaker farm. The farm became a centre for Grundtvigianism. Solem also extended the mill at Bakke which

had earlier built in 1815. In 1840, Solem went home with his family to

, where he continued with his mercantile business. He established during this time a shipyard in

Hommelvik Hommelvik is the administrative centre of Malvik Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the ''Hommelvika'', a bay off of the Trondheimsfjord. Hommelvik is about southwest of the village of Muruvika, about ...

Marriage and death

Solem married Randi Andersdatter Nideng (1775–1859) at some point after 1800, although the exact year is disputed. His and her entry in ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. It is part of the '' Great Norwegian Encyclopedia''. Origin The first print edition (NBL1) was issued between 1923 and 1983; it included 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. Kunnskapsforlaget to ...

'', both written by

Andreas Aarflot Andreas Aarflot (born 1 July 1928) is a Norwegian theologian and bishop emeritus in the Church of Norway. He was bishop of Oslo from 1977 to 1998. Early life Aarflot was born in Yiyang, China where his mother and father served the Norwegian Mis ...

, state that the marriage occurred on 9 July 1805. Historian Sverre Røvik considers this less likely, as they both met in the Haugean network many years before. Solem died at his farm in

Strinda Municipality Strinda is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed the eastern part of what is now Trondheim Municipality south and east of ...

in 1857 as a wealthy and respected businessman, two years before his wife. His son, Fredrik, committed suicide in 1861 after the revealing of a fraud in Trondheim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solem, Arent 1777 births 1857 deaths Norwegian merchants Norwegian Christians People from Sør-Trøndelag 19th-century Norwegian businesspeople