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| Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson is one of
the most important Norwegian poets. He is well-known, abroad as well as in
our country, both as a playwright and a novelist. He is one of the three
Norwegian writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature,
and everybody in our country knows him as the writer of our national
anthem, ”Ja, vi elsker”. Bjørnson had, however, another role to play in Europe nearly one hundred years ago, as a spokesman for the rights of the suppressed nationalities. As a co-ordinator school in a Comenius-project, we have for the last three years co-operated with two partner schools in Slovakia. Through them we learned that even today, Bjørnson still holds a special place in the hearts of the Slovak people. In many towns and cities in Slovakia there is a street named Ulica B. Bjornsona. Also, there is an active Bjørnson society in Slovakia. The director of one of our partner schools, Mrs Magda Bariciakova of Obchodna akademia Dolny Kubin, with her enthusiasm and interest in Bjørnson, aroused our curiosity. Gradually we felt that this was a part of Bjørnson’s past that we would like to reveal and introduce to our students. It is an issue that might be viewed against the background of the present integration process and co-operation in Europe, with new countries applying for membership in the EU. And who knows, may be this is something that others might take an interest in. The Norwegian Board of Education (Læringssenteret) encouraged and supported us to continue with the idea of creating a web-site presenting this relatively unknown part of Bjørnson’s past, and they have requested us to present it during the eSchola-period in April 2003. We have chosen to involve some of our students in the process of creating the site, as well as some of our teachers of history and Norwegian. We would like the site to be presented in English, Norwegian and Slovak. Without the assistance of our good friends from Dolny Kubin, both with regard to the translation and the supplying of articles, there is no way we would have been able to succeed. The idea is that after the site has been introduced and presented in April 2003, it will be further developed during the next years. Therefore, we would like to invite you to forward your comments and ideas, as well as your corrections and additions. Arvid Frøsland principal Eilert Sundt upper secondary school Please choose your language to enter the site Norwegian - English - Slovak |
