Eilert Lund Sundt (8 August 1817 – 13 June 1875) was a Norwegian

theologist Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ana ...

and sociologist, known for his work on morality, marriage and other subjects among the working class. He was an early pioneer of the field of

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

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 ...

Early and personal life

He was born in

Farsund is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Lister Region, Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Farsund (town ...

as a son of Lars Mortensen Sundt (1762–1850) and Karen Bing Drejer (1777–1865). He was a distant descendant of Peter Drejer. He was a third cousin of Christian Sundt, uncle of

Lauritz Lauritz is a typically masculine given name, a Scandinavian form of the English Laurence or Lawrence. Another Danish and Estonian form is Laurits. Popularity in Scandinavia The name has been decreasing in popularity in all Scandinavian countr ...

and Karen Sundt, granduncle of Vigleik,

Halfdan Halfdan (, , 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 who succeeded hi ...

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, a publisher.

Career

In 1835 he began his studies in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

, 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 develop ...

, 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 (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...

, 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 Eyvindr ...

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 Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

from 1869, and he died there in 1875. Two of his works were selected for the

Norwegian Sociology Canon The Norwegian Sociology Canon () is an award presented from 2009 to 2011 to 25 nonfiction texts, that are considered to have had the greatest influence on sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, h ...

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