Sivert Aarflot

Sivert Knudsen Aarflot (October 23, 1759 – April 14, 1817) was a Norwegian figure in popular education. He worked as a schoolteacher in Volda in the Sunnmøre district and then served as a lensmann.

Life Aarflot is known for his work in community education and for introducing improvements in agriculture. As a young man, he was taught by the parish priest Hans Strøm in Volda.

The philologist Ivar Aasen (1813–1896) gained much of his first knowledge from the bookshelves at Ekset. The Åsen farm lies only three kilometers from Ekset, and so they were almost neighbors. Aarflot himself had made observations about the relationship between the Sunnmøre dialect and Old West Norse, and this may have inspired the young Aasen.

Aarflot was a member of the Sunnmøre Practical Agricultural Society (Syndmøre practiske Landhuusholdningsselskab).

Print shop owner and newspaper publisher

On December 22, 1807, Aarflot wrote a lengthy request to the king in Copenhagen asking permission to start his own print shop. In his request he listed the handwritten works that he held in his private library and wished to print in thirteen points. In addition, he made it clear that he planned to publish a weekly newspaper called The Village Gazette for Norway ("Et Ugeblad Kaldet: Landboebladet for Norge"). In May 1808, the postal service recommended a postage exemption for the newspaper in Norway and Denmark. On July 15, 1808, Aarflot received permission to engage in printing operations. With the help of a friend from Trondheim engaged in book printing, Aarflot started printing in 1809. This was the first print shop to operate outside of a town in Norway (Ålesund was not a town at that time).