Lars Andreas Oftedahl
Lars Andreas Oftedahl was a Norwegian-Danish priest and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814.
Biography
Oftedahl was born in Copenhagen, his parents were Lars Larsen Oftedahl, later captain and arms manager, and Ellen Andersdatter. He moved with his parents to Nyborg, and later to Christianssand, where he graduated as cand.theol. in 1801. From 1809 he was vicar at Rennesøy, Stavanger Amt. He became a renowned speaker, and was elected as one of three delegates from Stavanger Amt to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814, where he represented the unionist side. He was first deputy, representing the official class. Along with him from Stavanger Amt came merchant Christen Mølbach and farmer Asgaut Olsen Regelstad.He served as a curate in Christianssand from 1817, and dean from 1825, and was vicar in Eker from 1831. He served as deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament for two terms. He was also engaged in social matters such as education and poor relief. He issued a catechism explanation in 1814, and a Latin grammar in 1923.