Peder Elias Bjørnson (1798–1871) was a Norwegian priest, best known for being the father of

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

.''Norsk biografisk leksikon'': Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.
/ref> Bjørnson was born in at the Skei farm in Søgne Municipality. He was of peasant stock and he married Inger Elise Nordraak (1808–1897) from

Kragerø Kragerø () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. Villages in Kragerø include H ...

. He served as a priest in Kvikne Municipality, a secluded area in the

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

district, some sixty miles south of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, from 1831 to 1838, and it is here that his son was born on December 8, 1832 and given the unusual name ''Bjørnstjern''. Kvikne had a violent reputation, but Bjørnson succeeded in introducing compulsory education and subduing the local opposition to religious authority. Boyeson, Hjalmar Hjorth. 1972

895 __NOTOC__ Year 895 ( DCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Magyars are expelled from western Siberia, and settle in the Carpathian Basin, under the leadership of Árpád ( ...

''Essays on Scandinavian Literature''. New York: Benjamin Blom, p. 5. On April 11, 1838, Bjørnson was transferred with his family to the parish of Nesset, outside

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

county when Bjørnstjern was six years old. They lived at the Nesset Parsonage and it was there that his son modified his own name to ''Bjørnstjerne''. The family remained in Nesset for 14 years. Bjørnson was appointed parish priest of Søgne Municipality on September 18, 1852, and served there until 1869. In 1858, he presided over the marriage of his son at the old church in Søgne, whereupon he wrote in the parish records: "Marriage, September 11: The student and theater director Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson married the single girl Johanne Elisabet Caroline Reimers." In addition to Bjørnstjerne, Bjørnson's children included Mathilde Cathinka (born in 1834), Petter Elias (born April 25, 1838, father of Inga Bjørnson), Carl F. (born in 1844), and Karoline Emilie (1841–1929), who was mother of the historian of religion William Brede Kristensen. Bjørnson died in Kristiania (now

Oslo 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 ...

) and was buried at Our Savior's Cemetery.Repstad, Laurits, & Olav Gautestad. 1968. ''Søgne gamle kirke og Peder Bjørnson''. Søgne: Søgne menighetsråd, p. 37.

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