Name Ernst Skarstedt Role Author | Died March 13, 1929 | |
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Ernst Teofil Skarstedt (April 14, 1857 - March 13, 1929) was a Swedish-American author, journalist and editor of Swedish language books and newspapers. He is most noted as the author of a three volume trilogy covering the Swedish immigrant experience in the Pacific Northwest.
Contents
Background
Ernst Teofil Skarstedt was born in Solberga parish, municipality of Kungälv, in Västra Götaland County, located in the traditional province of Bohuslän, Sweden. Skarstedt was born at the parsonage where his father served as Minister. His father, Carl Wilhelm Skarstedt (1815-1908), became a distinguished professor of theology at Lund University. His younger brother was Swedish journalist and politician, Carl Abraham Waldemar Skarstedt (1861-1931).
Career
He emigrated to the United States in 1878. Skarstedt became the co-editor of Svenska amerikanaren in 1880 and Svenska tribunen in 1884, both published in Chicago. From 1891 he edited Vestkusten, published in San Francisco. Ernst Skarstedt was later hired as the editor of Nordstjernan in New York City. Later having moved to Portland, Oregon, Skarstedt made an attempt to publish a local Swedish language newspaper, Demokraten a newspaper aimed at educating Swedes about local politics.
In 1890, Skarstedt published Oregon och Washington: Dessa staters historia, resurser och folkliv (Oregon and Washington: The History, Resources and Folklore of These States), a volume that combined history with a handbook for potential settlers. Washington och dess Svenska Befolkning (Washington and its Swedish population) was published in 1908. This provided a history of the area and descriptions of communities and industries. In 1911, he published the last volume in his trilogy about the Swedish immigrants Oregon och dess svenska befolkning (Oregon and its Swedish Population). The book included biographies of prominent Swedish-Americans.