Peder Elias Bjørnson (1798–1871)Store norske leksikon: Bjørnson. was a Norwegian priest, best known for being the father of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.Norsk biografisk leksikon: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.
Bjørnson was born in at the Skei farm in Søgne Municipality.Elster, Kristian. 1924. Illustreret norsk litteratur historie: Fra Wergelandstiden til vore dage. Oslo: Gyldendalske bokhandel, p. 413.Gierløff, Christian. 1932. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Oslo: Gyldendal, p. 13. He was of peasant stockWildhagen, Fredrik Christian. 1951. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Oslo: Gyldendal, p. 8. and he married Inger Elise Nordraak (1808–1897) from Kragerø. He served as a priest in Kvikne Municipality, a secluded area in the Østerdalen district, some sixty miles south of Trondheim, from 1831 to 1838, and it is here that his son was born on December 8, 1832 and given the unusual name Bjørnstjern.Amdam, Per. 1993. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson: kunstneren og samfunnsmennesket 1832–1880, vol 1. Oslo: Gyldendal, p. 45. Kvikne had a violent reputation, but Bjørnson succeeded in introducing compulsory education and subduing the local opposition to religious authority.Boyeson, Hjalmar Hjorth. 1972 . 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 in Romsdal 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.Nielsen, N. C. 1932. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson og hans digtning. Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz, p. 10. 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.Hjelse, Sigurd. 1972. From Kristiansand to Leiden: The Norwegian Career of W. Brede Kristensen. In: Hjelde, Sigurd (ed.), Man, Meaning, and Mystery: 100 Years of History of Religions in Norway: The Heritage of W. Brede Kristensen, pp. 205–222. Leiden: Brill, p. 206.
Bjørnson died in Kristiania (now Oslo) and was buried at Our Savior's Cemetery.Repstad, Laurits, & Olav Gautestad. 1968. Søgne gamle kirke og Peder Bjørnson. Søgne: Søgne menighetsråd, p. 37.
References
Further reading Asbjørn Øverås. 1964. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons foreldre: ætt og arv: ei korrigering og nyvurdering. Aschehoug Edvard Hoem. 2007. Faderen – Peder Bjørnson forsvarar seg. Oktober forlag. .