Olaf Alfred Hoffstad

Olaf Alfred Hoffstad (18 March 1865 – 15 September 1943) was a Norwegian botanist, writer, school principal and politician for the Conservative Party.

He was born in Stjørdalshalsen, Nordre Trondhjems Amt to merchant Oliver Hoffstad (1830–1878) and his wife Anne Birgitte Øydahl (1843–1932). He finished his secondary education at Trondhjem Cathedral School in 1883 and graduated with the cand.real. degree in 1888.^[1][2] After having taught at girls' schools in Trondhjem, Egersund, Haugesund and Røros he was employed by the Sandefjord Upper Secondary School on 1 August 1892. He was appointed principal of the school in 1924 and taught there until 18 March 1935, for almost 43 years.^[3][2] Hoffstad also headed the Sandefjord Technical Evening School (Norwegian: Sandefjords Tekniske Aftenskole) from 1896 to 1924.^[3] In September 1894, his son Einar Hoffstad was born, who became an economist and encyclopedist.^[4][5]

In 1891, he published Norsk Flora, a Flora for Norwegian schools which was published in eight further editions before Hoffstad's death in 1943.^[3] He also published another illustrated Flora for Norwegian schools, entitled Flora for skoler (1899).^[3] In the summers of 1896 and 1897, Hoffstad travelled from the estuary of the Trondheimsfjord to Leka, a village at the border between Nordland and Nord-Trøndelag counties. He wrote an article for the journal Nyt Magasin for Naturvidenskaberne in 1899 where he described what he had observed, amongst other things the discovery of Utricularia ochroleuca in Northern Norway.^[3][6]

Hoffstad was also engaged in politics. In 1894, he became leader of a conservative youth league in Sandefjord.^[3] He became a member of Sandefjord city council in 1897, and became deputy mayor already in 1898.^[1] From 1911 to 1934, he served as mayor for Sandefjord, the longest time any major not born in the city ever had served.^[2][3] Whilst serving as mayor, Hoffstad wrote two treatises on the management of municipal finances in the city, Kommunale finanser (1926) and Sandefjords kommunale økonomi i tiåret 1922—1932 (1933).^[3] He also represented the Conservative Party in the Parliament of Norway as a deputy representative in the 1919–21, 1922–24 and 1931–33 terms. His constituency was Larvik og Sandefjord, from 1922 changed to the Market towns of Vestfold county.^[1]

He chaired the board of the newspaper Sandefjords Blad, and was a board member of Vestfold Kraftselskap from 1921 to 1929, Sandefjord Sparebank, the local gas works, electricity plant and cinema as well as the teachers' union Filologenes og Realistenes Landsforening. He founded a regional branch of the Union of Norwegian Cities in 1921, and chaired it until 1934.^[1]

He died of a heart attack in September 1943. At the deathbed, he copyedited the ninth edition of Norsk Flora, which was published posthumously in 1944.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Biografier 1905-1945: Olaf Alfred Hoffstad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. http://www.samfunnsveven.no/cms/polsys/I33.cfm?urlname=&lan=&MenuItem=&ChildItem=&State=&UttakNr=33&person=11277. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Hoffstad, Einar, ed (1935). "Hoffstad, O(laf) A(lfred)" (in Norwegian). Merkantilt biografisk leksikon (1st ed.). Oslo: Yrkesforlaget. p. 336. http://runeberg.org/merkbio/0414.html. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Christophersen, Erling (1943). "Olaf Alfred Hoffstad (1865–1943)" (in Norwegian). Blyttia (Oslo: Norwegian Botanical Association) 1 (4): 127–29. ISSN 0006-5269. OCLC 2572225. 
4. ^ "Einar Hoffstad" (in Swedish). Project Runeberg. 8 November 2006. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. http://runeberg.org/authors/hoffsein.html. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
5. ^ "Olaf Alfred Hoffstad" (in Swedish). Project Runeberg. 8 November 2006. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. http://runeberg.org/authors/hoffsola.html. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
6. ^ Hoffstad, O. A. (1899). "Vegetationen og floraen paa kysten af Trondhjems stift nordenfor Trondhjemsfjorden" (in Norwegian). Nyt Magasin for Naturvidenskaberne. OCLC 467571493. 
7. ^ Hoffstad, O. A. (1944) (in Norwegian). Norsk Flora (9th ed.). Oslo: Aschehoug. OCLC 13856225. 

Persondata
Name	Hoffstad, Olaf Alfred
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 March 1865
Place of birth
Date of death	15 September 1943
Place of death