Edvard Apolloniussen Liljedahl (6 August 1845, in

Vik Municipality Vik is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of Vik is the village of Vikøyri. Other villages in the municipality includ ...

- 10 October 1924) was a Norwegian politician for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He was a member of the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1889, and Minister of Education and Church Affairs in 1912-1913. Liljedahl died on 10 October 1924 in Vik and was buried there.

Biography

Edvard Liljedahl was born to Apollonius Liljedahl and Britha Olsdotter Hopperstad in 1845. He received his degree from the

Balestrand Balestrand is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center was the village of Balestrand. Other villages i ...

Teacher's School in 1864 and another from the

Stord Stord is a municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since i ...

Seminary in 1866. For a year, he taught school in

Leikanger Municipality Leikanger () is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It was located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of S ...

. He also worked as an office clerk for a justice of the peace. On 18 October 1869, Liljedahl married Barbra Einarsdotter Ramsli. They were the first couple to be married in the newly-built

Kyrkjebø Church Kyrkjebø Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Høyanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kyrkjebø. It is the church for the Kyrkjebø parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (dea ...

. They were the parents of Army general Einar Liljedahl. He sang in the church choir and was the first educated teacher in Kyrkjebø, where he worked from 1867 until 1889. He then went on to become a member of the cabinet in

from 6 March 1889, until 13 July 1889. Liljedahl later became

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

in Aalesund in 1891, and then

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

in 1901. After retiring in 1904 he moved to his property Røytehola (officially Fredheim) in Kyrkjebø Municipality. He cleared the land himself during his time as a parish clerk and a member of parliament, and rented it out when he lived in Ålesund and Bergen. On a visit to Vik, he purchased the Havnen farm from hotel owner Hopstock and moved to

in 1905. He sold the Røytehola property to a quartermaster sergeant named Mo.

Agriculture

When he took over the property, the Havnen farm consisted of only a barn, a summer cow barn, and a bathhouse. Liljedahl had to build a farmhouse, cow barn, and a stall. He cultivated more land in Havnen and planted a large number of fruit trees (about 250) of which, about half were pear and the rest were apple and cherry. These trees became an important source of income for him in Havnen. In addition to Røytehola which had been cleared and planted with fruit trees, he also had another farm in Østrem which he sold, and an additional farm farther out in Sogn. In Sogn he planted many plants and also tended the parish garden in

Eivindvik Eivindvik is the administrative centre of the municipality of Gulen in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland, along the north shore of the Gulafjorden. It is also located about south of the village of Dingja (and th ...

. In 1904 after his postmaster days were over, he went back to Kyrkjebø to live at the Røytehola property, and immediately purchased more land which he cultivated. After his employment as postmaster in Ålesund, he purchased the Vågenes farm in Borgund Municipality, but quickly sold it to his brother-in-law Magnus Ramslie, who was from

Vangsnes Vangsnes is a village located in the municipality of Vik in Vestland county, Norway. It's located on a relatively flat and fertile peninsula that juts out on the south side of the Sognefjorden, roughly at the midpoint of the fjord which is Norway ...

. He then purchased the Spjelkavik farm, which was a large farm with several cottages, many forests, and mountain bodies of water. It ended up being too large and expensive to operate, so he sold it after a few years, and moved from Ålesund to Bergen. In addition to farming, he was interested in freshwater fishing and hunting. At that time there were no fish in the large lake of Uldalsvatn in Kyrkjebø. His brother-in-law, merchant Andreas Ramslie, introduced fish there. This later became a source of income for Liljedahl. He started

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

in many lakes in Sogn and in Uldalsvatn. He also founded the Spjelkavik yarn and fishnet factory, which grew to be a large business that contributed to the construction of many buildings and homes in the area.

Community involvement

In Kyrkjebø, Liljedahl was a community spokesman for many years, a member of the township board for 14 years, and a member of the election board. He was an arbitrator commissioner for 18 years. He was a member of Borgund's town council and Ålesund's city council. He was also a member of the school board in 1884 and the clergy salary board, and he enforced laws in

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

county. He was a member of the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

for the constituency of Nordre Bergenhus amt from 1870–1891, for

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

1895-1905, and ''Ytre Sogn'' from 1906-1909. He was President of the

Odelsting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from 1899-1900. He was a member of the Council of State Division in

in 1889, and Minister of Education and Church Affairs in the Bratlie cabinet from 1912 to 1913.

Education and church

In 1868, the Kyrkjebø district opened its first school, which still stands. At the dedication of the school, some songs were sung that Liljedahl had written. He wrote many songs, one of which is printed in Nordahl Rolfsen's school books. He also wrote a newspaper column in the local press about people. In Kyrkjebø he helped many people to write legal papers and took care of their legal matters while he worked for the justice of the peace. A colleague who attended school with Liljedahl in 1876 wrote, "He was a pleasant man, full of life and desire. I was amazed at how the children clung to him with such high affection and respect." Those who had him as a teacher say that he was unusually serious in school. He carried out his parish clerk duties in an honourable way which left a valuable impression. Many who remember his conversations with the youth on the church floor can still repeat portions of them. When the weather was bad and the pastor could not come from Lavik Church, Liljedahl spoke from his front porch to the congregation. He was a Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

, a Grand Cross of

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, and a Knight of the Swedish

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

References