Hartvig Nissen (gymnast)

Hartvig Nissen in 1921

Hartvig Nissen (1857–1924) was a Norwegian gymnast based mostly Norway and USA. He later moved on to work in politics.

Childhood

Born on a Sunday, mid July, 1857, [probably July 19] in "Kongshavn"—King's Haven near Christiana (Oslo), Norway, close by the fjord with Ekeberg—a small mountain—right behind it. His father, Hartvig Nissen, was the owner and principal of a private school with 700 boys and 300 girls and was made chief of public schools of Norway in 1867. He died on February 4, 1874 of heart failure. Hartvig was the 8th child in a family of 10 children. He graduated high school in 1872. An eye injury from a childhood snow ball fight prevented him from entering military school.[1]

Youth

He took communion in church in the spring of 1872. As a young man he joined the Merchant's Club, Singing Club and Christiania (Oslo) Turnforening or Gymnastics Club. He started teaching gymnastics in April 1875 and was the Instructor of Gymnastics in the Latin School of Drammen, and in the Gymnastic Clubs of the cities of Drammen, Holmestrand and Kongsberg in Norway. Later he was Assistant Teacher and Principal of Oslo Turnforening.[2]

Around 1879 he studied the German system of gymnastics in Dresden, Saxony. In the late 1870s until he left Norway in January 1883 he was considered the strongest gymnast in Norway.

Hartvig left Christiana [Oslo] on January 26, 1883 for USA. He arrived in New York City on February 15, 1883.

Working Days in Washington, D.C.[1]

In March 1883 he moved to Washington, DC where a few days after arriving in DC he visited the German Gymnastic Club and obtained a position teaching a class of 14 ladies. In a couple of weeks he had 50 students, women from the ages of 13 to 50. He also gave classes in the Franklin School until spring of 1885.

The following September 1883 he opened a gymnasium in an armory on "E" street between 9 and 10 N.W.

On January 4th, 1884, he gave an exhibition in his gymnasium by high school girls and boys, Swedish gymnastics, wands, dumbbells, fancy steps, folk dances and games. This was the first time Swedish gymnastics and folk dances were exhibited in the United States.

After he had read about General Grant's fall in New York on Christmas Eve, 1883, and the General's diagnosis of rheumatism, Nissen sent an introduction letter to Grant at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he was visiting for treatment, via Swedish and Norwegian Ministers (Hartvig was Vice-Consul for both countries). The letter led to Nissen treating the general with massage for about five weeks.

In September 1883 he rented a three-story building at 903 16th street, two blocks from the White House, and named it "The Swedish Health Institute." He married a Swedish woman, Miss Helene Peterson, in the summer of 1884. She had been his assistant since he opened the institute.

Hartvig is thought to have introduced the study of Swedish Gymnastics, and Swedish Massage to the United States.


Bibliography

Nissen has an extensive bibliography. His best known books include:

References

  1. 1 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Hartvig Nissen, February 15, 1921 (privately published)
  2. ↑ ABC of the Swedish Educational Gymnastics. A PRACTICAL HAND-BOOK FOR SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THE HOME. by Hartvig Nissen, 1892 by the Educational Publishing Company, Boston.
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