Ernst Sars | |
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 Ernst Sars (ca. 1883) | |
| Born | (1835-10-11)11 October 1835 Kinn, Norway |
| Died | 27 January 1917(1917-01-27) (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Alma mater | University of Oslo |
| Occupation(s) | Professor, historian, author and editor |
| Notable work | Udsigt over den norske Historie, 1873-1891 |
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| Awards | Crown Prince's gold medal - 1856 |
Johan Ernst Welhaven Sars (11 October 1835 – 27 January 1917) was a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor. Assuming perspectives from thepositivism philosophical school, his main work wasUdsigt over den norske Historie, four volumes issued from 1873 to 1891. He co-edited the magazinesNyt norsk Tidskrift from 1877 to 1878, andNyt Tidsskrift from 1882 to 1887. He was politically active for theLiberal Party of Norway and among the party's most central theoreticians.[1]
Sars was born in the parish ofKinn (nowFlora Municipality) inNordre Bergenhus Amt (now Sogn og Fjordane), Norway. He was the son ofMichael Sars (1805–1869) andMaren Cathrine Welhaven (1811–1898).[2] His father was vicar atKinn Church and atManger Church and was professor of zoology at theUniversity of Christiania from 1854. His mother was a sister of poetJohan Sebastian Welhaven and authorElisabeth Welhaven.[3][4]
He was a brother of singerEva Sars and zoologistGeorg Ossian Sars. He was a cousin of architectHjalmar Welhaven as well as a brother-in-law of explorer and scientistFridtjof Nansen and musicianThorvald Lammers. He was not married, and lived along with his brother at their mother's residence until she died in 1898. He died atAker in 1917.[2]
Sars attended theBergen Cathedral School from 1849. In 1853 he moved toChristiania (now Oslo) as a student. He initiated studies in medicine, but he started to study history. In 1856, he was awarded the Crown Prince's gold medal (Kronprinsens gullmedalje) for having written a prize-winning treatise on theKalmar Union. He spent the summers of 1858 and 1859 in Copenhagen, in order to copy Norwegian documents in Danish archives. He wrote a pioneering work onNorway during the union with Denmark (Norge under Foreningen med Danmark), published in four parts between 1858 and 1865. He was appointed as an assistant at theNational Archival Services of Norway (Norwegian:Riksarkivet) from 1860 to 1874.[2]
After having received a scholarship he lectured at theUniversity of Kristiania from 1870, where he first introduced the subjectpositivism, and later lectured onNorwegian history. His main work wasUdsigt over den norske Historie, a continuous treatment of Norwegian history from theViking Age to contemporary times, which was published in four volumes between 1873 and 1891. The first volume of the series established Sars among the leading intellectuals in Norway. It earned him an extraordinary professorship in 1874, after aParliamentary decision.[2]
Sars co-edited the magazinesNyt norsk Tidskrift (withJens Lieblein) from 1877 to 1878, andNyt Tidsskrift (withOlaf Skavlan) from 1882 to 1887.[5] He took part in politics, and was active for theLiberal Party, along withBjørnstjerne Bjørnson.[2] After his publication ofHistorisk Indledning til Grundloven (Historical Introduction to the Constitution) in 1882, he was regarded among the Liberal Party's most central theoreticians. He also regarded the dissolution of theunion between Sweden and Norway to be the only practical solution to the conflicts with Sweden. He wrote the workNorges politiske historie 1815–85, published between 1899 and 1904,[5] and continued lecturing until 1911.[2] As of 1898, Sars was among the contributors ofRingeren, a political and cultural magazine established bySigurd Ibsen.[6]
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