Jacob Aaland (April 27, 1865 – October 18, 1950) was a Norwegian teacher, local historian, and

government scholar Government scholar () is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the state budget of Norway. The position can be "for li ...

. Aaland was a crofter's son. He attended Apalset County School in

Gloppen Gloppen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen ...

in the winter of 1881–1882, and then graduated from Stord Normal School in 1884. After that he taught for 48 years, first in

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...

, and then from 1892 to 1932 in

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 ...

. While in Bergen, he had several breaks from teaching work for other assignments. He wrote a large number of local history books, and from 1917 to 1919 he was the editor of the newspaper '' Fjordenes Blad'' in

Nordfjordeid Nordfjordeid is the administrative centre of the municipality of Stad, Norway, Stad in Vestland county, western Norway. It is located at the end of the Eidsfjorden, an arm of the main Nordfjorden (Sogn og Fjordane), Nordfjorden, west of the large ...

. Aaland was a founding member of the Nordfjord Historical Society () in 1907. He was appointed a government scholar in 1911 and he received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold. Jacob Aaland died at his home in

Sandane Sandane is the administrative centre of the municipality of Gloppen in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the end of the Gloppefjorden, along the European route E39 highway. Sandane is south of the village of Nordfjordeid and about wes ...

at age 86 and is buried in Fredly cemetery there. A bust of Aaland was erected at Rand School in 1976 in his memory. Another bust is located at the Nordfjord Folk Museum in Sandane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaland, Jacob 19th-century Norwegian historians Norwegian newspaper editors 20th-century Norwegian historians Norwegian government scholars Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold People from Stryn People from Gloppen 1865 births 1950 deaths