Nils Økland

Nils Andreas Økland (10 June 1882 – 1969) was a Norwegian Esperantist and teacher in Stord (Hordaland), Norway.[1] He spent some years in his youth on the island Utsira, where his father was a school teacher. Nils Økland was married to Hanna Olava Bergstøl, and they had 3 sons. His father Matthias Larsen Økland (b. 1844) was also a school teacher and a church chorister; his mother was Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853) from Eidsvåg.[2] Having learned Esperanto indirectly through his friend Haldor Midthus by 1904, he served as president on the executive council of Stord's Norwegian Esperanto League branch.

This article is about the Esperantist. For the musician, see Nils Økland (musician).

Brief biography

Born in Valestrand in 1882, Økland was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1896; the parish priest made particular note of his "knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction."[3] By 1900 he was a student at a Stord teachers training college.[4]

Beginning in the spring of 1904, Økland taught Esperanto courses at the Bethania Waisenhus in Stavanger.[5] Under the direction of the Stavanger parish priest, the Bethania complex, housing about 150 orphans in three asylum buildings and a further 20 to 30 young offenders in a separate youth detention center on Lindøy, operated a printing shop producing newspapers, religious tracts and books.[6]

In the early period of the movement's growth he propagated the planned language among his colleagues and through newspaper and magazine articles. In 1910 and 1912 he taught adult Esperanto courses in Haugesund, and in 1932 he taught a children's Esperanto course in Stord. Økland was a school inspector in Rogaland for some years. He was also Stord's county mayor (ordførar) from 1932 to 1934, representing the party Venstre.[7]

Author

Økland wrote a book of poetry, Heime og ute, (Home and abroad), published in Kristiania (Oslo) by Olaf Norlis forlag in 1917. This book contains 27 poems, and it includes translations of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine.

In 1940 he wrote a short biography of David Livingstone, published by Norsk Bokreidingslag in Bergen. Both books were written in nynorsk.

Øklandhuset

During his time as the schoolteacher in Haugesund, Økland had had a simple house built just west of the school.[8] After World War II that house, still known as Øklandhuset ("Økland's house") was owned by Sofie Håland, who lived on the main floor and rented out the other two floors to Agnes Vikshåland, a seamstress. She kept her sewing studio in the attic and also operated a store in the basement.[8]

Økland died in Haugesund.

Notes
  1. Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the birth on 10 June 1882 and baptism on 25 June 1882 of Nils Andreas Økland to Kirkesanger M.(atthias) L.(arsen) Økland (1844–1931) and Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853), living at Ulveraker. One of the godparents was Nils Larsen Økland.
  2. Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the wedding on 3 July 1872 of "Gårdmann, Lærer" Matthias Larsen Økland, 28, son of Gårdmann Lars Nilsen Økland, to Signi Nilsdatter from Eidsvaag, 20, daughter of Gårdmand Nils Kristoffersen, Eidsvaag.
  3. Hordaland's Sveio/Valestrand Parish register records the confirmation on 20 September 1896 of Nils Andreas Mathiassen Økland, born 10 June 1882 at Ulveraker (Økland), baptised 25 June 1882; parents Kirkesanger Mathias Larssen Økland and wife Signy Nilsdatter; vaccinated against smallpox on 5 July 1983; knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction.
  4. Nils Økland (born 1882, in Valestrand) is listed in the 1900 census for the Stord District of Hordaland, as an unmarried "solitary lodger" and student of the Stord teachers training college. He was one of six such students renting lodgings from Ole Ingebrigtsen Rommetveit (b. 1825 in Tysnæs) and his wife Anna Jakobsdatter (b. 1836 in Tysnæs).
  5. Esperanto-Nytt, Norsk Esperanto-Forbund, January 2004 (Norwegian)
  6. Bøye Strøm, Topografisk-Statistisk beskrivelse over Stavanger Amt", Kristiania (Oslo), 1888, pp. 119–120
  7. Utdrag arkivkatalog Stord 1838–1965 in Interkommunalt arkiv Hordaland (Norwegian)
  8. Fra Nærbutikk til Supermarked (From Neighbourhood Store to Supermarket (Norwegian), a history of stores in Torvastad, ca.1900–1997
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