Lars Aanonsen Havstad (3 February 1851 – 29 August 1913) was a Norwegian statistician, writer, secretary in the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, newspaper editor and activist. He was deaf as well as blind in one eye, and was the first (along with Halvard Aschehoug) deaf person to pass 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 Norway.

Professional career

He was born as Lars Aanonsen Larssen in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

as a son of customs officer Aanon Larssen (1820–1863) and Christine Christophersen (1824–1895). He grew up in

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

, but following

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

and

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

at the age of five, he became deaf as well as blind in one eye. He read for himself until enrolling in school in 1860, at ''Christiania Døvstumme-Institut'' in Christiania. His teacher Fredrik Glad Balchen created a class for special talented students, who he and external teachers tutored to reach the level of normal students. Two of four students in the talent class, one of them being Havstad, managed to pass the

in 1871. Havstad and Halvard Aschehoug were the first two deaf people who passed the Norwegian examen artium, at that time regarded as a sensation. The examen artium was the

final examination An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

in Norwegian

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s until 1974. After three years of working at the institute, Havstad was hired in ''Det statistiske kontor'' in 1874, a statistical office within the Norwegian Ministry of the Interior. He later worked in the

Office of the Auditor General of Norway The Office of the Auditor General of Norway () is the state auditor of the Government of Norway and directly subordinate of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for auditing, monitoring and advising all state economic activities, including ...

, and a number of his statistical analyses were published.

Political career

Havstad is also known as the private secretary of liberal politician

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. Sverdrup was prime minister from 1884 to 1889. Early year ...

. In 1882 Havstad published Sverdrup's parliamentary speeches from 1851 to 1881. He also wrote for liberal newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'' and was the political editor and editor-in-chief of '' Eidsvold'' from 1894 to 1897. In 1875, he published ''Forholdet mellom Kongen, Statsraadet og Storthinget'' together with J. F. Heiberg, and also wrote articles in liberal historian

Ernst Sars Johan Ernst Welhaven Sars (11 October 1835 – 27 January 1917) was a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor. Assuming perspectives from the positivism philosophical school, his main work was ''Udsigt over den norske Historie'', f ...

' journal. Historian Jens Arup Seip noted that Havstad had racist tendencies in describing the civil servants' and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

's role in Norwegian history. Analyzing the 1882 Norwegian parliamentary election, Havstad claimed that the conservative voters (the voters for the candidates who in 1884 formed the Conservative Party) consisted of foreigners, descendants of foreigners as well as "people of real Norwegian heritage", but who had become assimilated because of "repeated contact with the immigrated". The district

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the Göta canal *IF Viken, ...

was described as " is dead belt which must first be permeated by the national spirit before the alien elements can be devoured by the body of society".

Activism for the deaf

In 1876 he published the article ''Skoletvang for Døvstumme'' in ''Aftenbladet'', which was about compulsory schooling for the

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

. Schooling for both deaf, blind and

mentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

people was introduced in 1883, and Havstad was given much of the credit. He co-founded the interest society ''De Norske Døvstummes Forening'' in 1878, and was vice chairman until 1891 and chairman from 1891 to 1894. He was decorated with an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the National Deaf-Mute College in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Personal and late life

In 1877 he changed his last name from Larssen to Havstad. In February 1886 he married Hedvig Augusta Schüssler (1863–1933). She was able to hear. He was a brother-in-law of deaf people's teacher Elias Hofgaard, who was married to Havstad's wife's sister. Havstad was killed in a tram collision in August 1913 in Kristiania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havstad, Lars 1851 births 1913 deaths Norwegian statisticians Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian newspaper editors Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian disability rights activists People from Tønsberg Deaf writers Norwegian blind writers Blind scholars and academics Deafblind people Norwegian deaf people Scientists with disabilities Deaf scholars and academics Blind activists Deaf activists