Jacob Sverdrup Smitt (6 January 1835 – 6 June 1889) was a Norwegian bishop and politician.

Career

Smitt was born in

Nordre Land Nordre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka. Other villages in the municipality include Vest-Torpa, Nord-T ...

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 ...

. He was the son of the dean Anton Elias Smitt (1805–1875) and Livia Sverdrup (1808–1840), and brother of

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

and Livius Smitt. His father was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isl ...

from 1835 until 1840, when he became vicar in

Vinje Vinje is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot. General in ...

. Jakob Sverdrup Smitt was home schooled, except for one year of school in Kristiania from 1852 to 1853. He took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1853, enrolled in theology studies and graduated with a Candidatus theologiæ degree in 1860. In June 1862 Smitt became a curate, working under his father in

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, ...

. In April 1865 in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

he married Letta Nicolaysen (1843–1923). In January 1865 he moved to

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

to become a catechist and school teacher. He was promoted to vicar in July 1867, then dean in November 1870. In 1876 he succeeded Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef as bishop in the Diocese of Tromsø. He first showed some willingness to adapt to the "religious peculiarity" of "certain congregations" in the high north, and tolerated

Laestadianism Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperance ...

. However, he came to follow the official assimilation policy of the state, especially pertaining to language and culture of the

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and

Kven people Kvens (; fi, kveeni; no, kvenar, kvener; sv, kväner; se, kveanat) are a Balto-Finnic ethnic minority in Norway. They are descended from Finnish peasants and fishermen who emigrated from the northern parts of Finland and Sweden to Northern ...

. Smitt was a member of Hammerfest city council from 1867 to 1876. In 1874 he was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) 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 bas ...

, representing the constituency of ''Tromsø, Hammerfest, Vadsø og Vardø''. He was re-elected in 1877 and 1880. For his last term he served as President of the Lagting. However, in the ensuing struggle between liberal and conservative politicians, where the liberals tried to gain control of the Lagting and henceforth the High Court of the Realm, Smitt was perceived as not radical enough. He believed that the King (the

executive branch of government The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

) should have an

absolute veto Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

in constitutional cases. He was "swept" out of politics, notes the ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

''. In 1885 Smitt applied for the post as Bishop of the Diocese of Kristiansand. He was appointed in June 1885, by Minister of Education and Church Affairs Elias Blix. Only two months later, Blix was replaced by Jakob Sverdrup in a highly controversial move. Jacob Smitt Sverdrup was a first cousin of Jakob Sverdrup—and Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Jr,

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

and

Edvard Sverdrup Johan Edvard Sverdrup (22 June 1861 – 21 January 1923) was a Norwegian educator, author and church leader. Sverdrup was one of the key theologians in the Church of Norway in the first few decades of the 1900s. Biography Sverdrup was born in Ba ...

, as well as a maternal grandson of Jacob Liv Borch Sverdrup and nephew of Prime Minister

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup ...

,Cf. the article on his brother: who conducted the replacement of Elias Blix. He was also an uncle of Anton Elias Smitt, Jr. through his half-brother. He died in June 1889 in

Holla, Telemark Holla was a parish, district and former municipality now located in the municipality of Nome in Telemark, Norway. History Holla is situated in the traditional region of Midt-Telemark. Holla parish included the churches at Holla and Helgen both ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smitt, Jakob Sverdrup 1835 births 1889 deaths People from Nordre Land University of Oslo alumni Bishops of Hålogaland Bishops of Agder og Telemark 19th-century Lutheran bishops Members of the Storting Finnmark politicians