Eilert Lund Sundt (8 August 1817 – 13 June 1875) was a Norwegian theologist and sociologist, known for his work on mortality, marriage and other subjects among the working class. He was an early pioneer of the field of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Early and personal life

He was born in Farsund as a son of Lars Mortensen Sundt (1762–1850) and Karen Bing Drejer (1777–1865). He was a distant descendant of

Peter Drejer Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

. He was a third cousin of

Christian Sundt Christian Gerhard Ameln Sundt (1 July 1816 – 26 February 1901) was a Norwegian businessman, ship owner and philanthropist. Biography He was born in Bergen to merchant Henrik Leganger Sundt and Sophie Catharina Ameln. In 1835 he became a ...

, uncle of Lauritz and

Karen Sundt Karen Sundt (23 May 1841 – 1 January 1924) was a Norwegian journalist and writer of popular literature. She was born in Farsund, and was a nephew of Eilert Sundt and cousin of Johan Lauritz Sundt. She made her literary debut in 1877 with ...

, granduncle of Vigleik,

Halfdan Halfdan (, ang, Healfdene, Medieval : "half Dane") was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings w ...

and Harald Sundt, and great-granduncle of Leif Sundt Rode. His father was a ship captain, and he was born into a large family of 13 children. All the children worked to help make ends meet. Farsund at that time had many seamen, small fishermen and chandlers. This provided his initial exposure to the ideas which he came to examine extensively later in his life: poverty, overpopulation and the work issues associated with the transition from an older farm culture to 19th century business and industry. In February 1859 he married Nicoline Conradine Hansen (1822–81), a daughter of Maurits Christopher Hansen. They had the son

Einar Sundt Einar Sundt (16 October 1854 – 20 September 1917) was a Norwegian businessman, writer and publisher. He was born in Christiania to Eilert Sundt and Nicoline Conradine Hansen, and was a cousin of Johan Lauritz Sundt and Karen Sundt Kar ...

, a publisher.

Career

In 1835 he began his studies in Kristiania, but came back to Farsund in 1838 and became a teacher. He resumed his studies in Kristiania in 1841. There he met and became close friends with

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develo ...

, who was also born and raised in Agder. When Henrik Wergeland was buried in 1845, Eilert Sundt led the student contingent and spoke at the funeral on their behalf. His interests in sociology were broad. He studied prison conditions, customs and treatment of Gypsies, causes of death, the evils of married life in Norway, conditions of prostitutes, suicide, fishery and forestry workers' living and working conditions, building customs, shipping practices, household cleanliness and administration of poverty laws. A man of his times, he also was interested in ethnography, ethnology,

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

, demography, and linguistics (with special emphasis on the dialects of Norwegian). From 1857 to 1866 Eilert Sundt was editor for ''Folkevennen'' ("Friend of the People"), for which he wrote a number of the more important articles. His work served to inform many of the authors of

Norwegian literature Norwegian literature is literature composed in Norway or by Norwegian people. The history of Norwegian literature starts with the pagan Eddaic poems and skaldic verse of the 9th and 10th centuries with poets such as Bragi Boddason and Eyvind ...

in their transition to a socially aware realism at the close of the 19th century. Eilert Sundt served as the parish priest in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

from 1869, and he died there in 1875. Two of his works were selected for the Norwegian Sociology Canon in 2009–2011.

References

External links

Family genealogy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundt, Eilert 1817 births 1875 deaths People from Farsund Norwegian sociologists 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy 19th-century Norwegian writers