Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was born on June 17, 1808, in Kristiansand. The son of Nicolai Wergeland, a founding father of the 1814 Eidsvoll Constitution, he studied theology and medicine in Christiania and emerged as the dynamic leader of the Norwegian cultural independence movement.

Wergeland established the tradition of celebrating May 17 as Norway's National Constitution Day. He campaigned passionately for public libraries, adult education, and the repeal of Article 2 of the Constitution, which excluded Jews from Norway, publishing Jøden (The Jew, 1842) and Jødinden (The Jewess, 1844). Dying of tuberculosis at only thirty-seven, his monumental funeral brought thousands into the streets in national mourning.