Just Knud Qvigstad (4 April 1853 – 15 March 1957) was a Norwegian philologist, linguist, ethnographer, historian and cultural historian. He was also a headmaster in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, and a politician for the Conservative Party who served as mayor of Tromsø and as Minister of Education and Church Affairs.

Personal life

He was born in

Lyngseidet , , or is the administrative centre of Lyngen Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located on an isthmus that is about wide between an arm of the Ullsfjorden and the Lyngenfjorden. The village is home to two grocery stores, ...

as a son of district physician Engebret Qvigstad (1814–1869) and Petra Krogh Wadel (1828–1905). In August 1885 in

Hammerfest Hammerfest or Hámmárfeasta is a town/cityIn the Norwegian language, the word ''by'' can be translated as "town" or "city". that is also the administrative centre of Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the nor ...

he married Margrethe Antonette Aagaard (1859–1949). Their son Just Knut Qvigstad was a notable engineer. He was also a brother-in-law of Arnfinn Palmstrøm.

Career in education and politics

He was homeschooled until the age of ten, when he moved to

where he took the

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 1869. He enrolled in philology studies at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

in 1870 and graduated with the cand.philol. degree in 1874. He was a teacher in Christiania from 1874 to 1875 and in Tromsø from 1875 to 1880, from 1878 at Tromsø Seminary. He studied from 1880 to 1881 to take the

cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree, and was hired as headmaster at Tromsø Seminary in 1883. He remained here to 1920. From 1910 to 1912 he was the Minister of Education and Church Affairs in

Konow's Cabinet Konow's Cabinet was a Norwegian cabinet, formed by a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Free-minded Liberal Party. It was in office from 2 February 1910 to 20 February 1912. Cabinet members State Secretary Not to be confuse ...

. As a politician he was also a member of Tromsø city council from 1889 to 1907, serving as mayor in the years 1889, 1905 and 1907.

Academic career

Qvigstad also made a name for himself as an academic. An interest in

Sami language Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

and culture started when he was hired at Tromsø Seminary, and he published his first of 112 academic works in 1881. This was ''Beiträge zur Vergleichung des verwandten Wortvorrathes der Lappischen und der finnischen Sprache'', published in the Finnish journal ''Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae''. Other important linguistic works include ''Nordische Lehnwörter in Lappischen'' (1893). He co-wrote the eighteenth volume of ''

Norske Gaardnavne ''Norske Gaardnavne'' (English: Norwegian Farm Names) is a 19-volume set of books based on a manuscript prepared from 1897 to 1924 by Oluf Rygh, a noted professor of archaeology, philology, and history at the University of Oslo. The book contains a ...

'', about farm names and place names in Finnmark, and followed with ''Spitsbergens stedsnavne før 1900'' (1927), ''De lappiske stedsnavn i Troms fylke'' (1935), ''De lappiske stedsnavn i Finnmark og Nordland fylker'' (1938) and ''De lappiske appellative stedsnavn'' (1944). Historical works include ''Den kvenske indvandring til Nord-Norge'' (1921), about

Kven KVEN (1520 AM, "") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language talk/sports format. By day ...

immigration to Northern Norway. Cultural historical works include ''Lappiske Eventyr og Folkesagn'' (with Georg Sandberg, 1887), ''Lappiske eventyr og sagn'' (four volumes, 1927–1929) and ''Lappische Heilkunde'' (1932). His academic institution was

Tromsø Museum Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, where he was a board member from 1884, and curator of the Sami collections from 1884 to 1931. However, most of his publications came after his retirement age. His last academic work was ''Opptegnelser fra samenes liv'', released in 1954 when Qvigstad was 101 years old. He was a member of the

Société Finno-Ougrienne Finno-Ugrian Society (, ) is a Finnish learned society, dedicated to the study of Uralic and Altaic languages. It was founded in Helsinki in 1883 by the proposal of professor Otto Donner. The society publishes several academic journal An ...

from 1885, the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

from 1888 and the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (, DKNVS) is a Norway, Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The society's Protector is King Harald V of ...

in 1894. He was an honorary member of the Société Finno-Ougrienne from 1910 and Tromsø Museum from 1926, and

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

s were issued for his 75th and 100th birthdays. He was awarded the

Gunnerus Medal The Gunnerus Medal () is a medal awarded by the learned society Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. It was inaugurated in 1927, and named after Johan Ernst Gunnerus, founder of the learned society. Members of the learned society are e ...

in 1930, and in 1943 a "Headmaster Qvigstad's Gold Medal" was inaugurated by Tromsø Museum. He was decorated as a Commander with Star of the

Royal Norwegian 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 ...

in 1912, and as a Commander of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

. He was a co-founder and board member of Norsk Finnemission from 1888 to 1916 and of the regional

Norwegian Bible Society The Norwegian Bible Society ( Norwegian: ) is a Norwegian Christian foundation which translates, produces, and distributes the Bible in Norway. It is the official Bible society of Norway. The Norwegian Bible Society is organized as a publishing ...

office from 1889 to 1910. He was also a board member of Tromsø Sparebank.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qvigstad, Just Knud 1853 births 1957 deaths People from Lyngen Politicians from Tromsø Mayors of places in Troms Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway University of Oslo alumni Norwegian philologists Linguists from Norway Norwegian ethnographers 20th-century Norwegian historians Translators of the Bible into Sámi Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Norwegian men centenarians Ministers of education of Norway 19th-century Norwegian historians