Erasmus Zahl

Trade seat of Kjerringøy.
Photographer: Harald Groven

Erasmus Benedicter (Benedigt) Kjerschow (Kjerskov) Zahl (1826–1900) was a tradesman and an island owner at Kjerringøy in Nordland, Norway. Zahl is known as Nobel Literature Prize laureate Knut Hamsun’s monetary supporter, and is also as a representative of the old, traditional Nordland—Hamsun’s ideal society—internationally known through the character Mack, who appears in several works of Hamsun, among them Pan (1894), Dreamers (1904), and Benoni and Rosa (1908).^[1]

History

Tradesman’s son in Nordvika

Erasmus Zahl was born in 1826 in Nordvika in Dønna, where his father Hans Hansen Zahl was a tradesman. His paternal grandparents were tradesman Hans Olsen Zahl and Anne Margrethe née Zahl in Nordvika. His mother was Anne Sophie Samuelsdatter Budde, a daughter of priest Samuel Jensen Budde and Nicoline Marie Nicolaisdatter Tombsen.

Tradesman in Kjerringøy

Erasmus Zahl came in 1840–50 to Kjerringøy, where he met and married tradesman Jens Nicolai Ellingsen’s widow, Anna Elisabeth née Sverdrup. Thereby he became the owner of Kjerringøy. It was during Zahl’s time in Kjerringøy that the trade seat reached its ultimate wealth. Many economically good years, and hereunder the herring fishery between 1865 and 1876, led to Zahl increasing his fortune with 156,000 speciedaler to 265.000 speciedaler.

Anna Ellingsen Zahl died in 1879, after that she at the age of 78 years fell down one of the main building’s stairs. As a widower, Zahl ordered several changes at the trade seat. All sale of alcohol was stopped, and nor should alcohol be enjoyed together with meals. Zahl let today’s church in Kjerringøy be built, finished in 1883.

Erasmus Zahl died in 1900 of apoplectic stroke. He had neither children nor inheritors.

Mack

In the late 1800s, Erasmus Zahl gave monetary support to Knut Hamsun as a young and poor author. Later, 1920 Nobel Literature Prize laureate Hamsun used Zahl as a model for the character Mack appearing in many of his novels, among others Pan (1894), Dreamers (1904), and Benoni and Rosa (1908).^[1]

The society in Nordland went through major changes during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Traditions were challenged by modern ideas, and the social hierarchy, in which Zahl had a leading position, would gradually be changed due to factors like industrialisation and urbanisation. Hamsun was, as expressed in his literature, a defender of the old society. For example in the double novel Benoni and Rosa, Hamsun describes the self-made man Benoni Hartvigsen with ironical distance, but at the same time also with considerable sympathy.^[1]^[2]

Ancestry

Family of Erasmus Zahl

				16. Hans Olsson



			8. Ole Hansson



				17. Barbro Sjursdotter



		4. Hans Olsen Zahl tradesman



				18.



			9. Anne Margrethe Zahl



				19.



	2. Hans Hansen Zahl tradesman



				20.



			10.



				21.



		5. Martha Jensdatter Zahl



				22.



			11.



				23.



1. Erasmus Zahl



				24.



			12. Jens de Budde captain



				25.



		6. Lord Samuel Jensen Budde priest



				26. Lord Jacob Christensen Hersleb priest



			13. Anne Sophie Jacobsdatter Hersleb



				27. Aarsille Pedersdatter Strømer



	3. Anne Sophie Samuelsdatter Budde



				28.



			14. Nicolai Bernhard Tombsen major



				29.



		7. Nicoline Marie Nicolaisdatter Tombsen



				30.



			15.



				31.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Knut Hamsun – utdypning in Store norske leksikon.
^ Citation: [...] dobbeltromanen Benoni og Rosa fra 1908. I skikkelse av oppkomlingen BenoniHartvigsen tegner Hamsun her for første gang et portrett av en allmuens mann i full skikkelse, med ironisk distanse, men også med betydelig sympati.

Literature

NRK.no: Nordland fylkesleksikon: Zahl på Kjerringøy
Store norske leksikon: Kjerringøy handelssted
Store norske leksikon: Knut Hamsun
Store norske leksikon: Knut Hamsun – utdypning

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[SNL-Hamsun-utd-1] Knut Hamsun – utdypning in Store norske leksikon.

[2] Citation: [...] dobbeltromanen Benoni og Rosa fra 1908. I skikkelse av oppkomlingen BenoniHartvigsen tegner Hamsun her for første gang et portrett av en allmuens mann i full skikkelse, med ironisk distanse, men også med betydelig sympati.

[1]

[2]