Konrad Nielsen

In July 1899 Nielsen was appointed as a lecturer in Kven and Sami at the Royal Frederick University. In 1903 he took the dr.philos. degree at the University of Helsinki with the thesis Die Quantitätsverhältnisse im Polmak-lappischen, about the language in Polmak. He was promoted to professor of Finno-Ugric languages in 1911. He ultimately retired as a professor in 1946, but had several absences of leave between 1911 and 1946. Among others, he sat in Copenhagen as a member of the Reindeer Grazing Commission between 1913 and 1917.^[1] He was succeeded in 1947 by Knut Bergsland.^[2]

His main works were in the Norwegian language. He released the textbook Lærebok i lappisk in three volumes between 1926 and 1929, and the dictionary Lappisk ordbok – Lapp Dictionary in three volumes between 1932 and 1938. In addition, he was a translator.^[3] He also helped the Norwegian Geological Survey with Sami place names.^[1]

After the stay in Copenhagen, Nielsen lived with his family in Vettakollen. He also learned Turkish and Hungarian.^[1]

He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and held an honorary degree at the University of Tartu. He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1946, was a Commander of the Finnish Order of the White Rose and the Estonian Order of the Cross of the Eagle, and a Knight of the Swedish Order of the Polar Star. He died in November 1953 in Oslo.^[1]