Hartvig Nissen (1857-1924) was a Norwegian gymnast active mostly within Norway and the USA. He later moved on to work with politics.
Video Hartvig Nissen (gymnast)
Childhood
Born in mid July, 1857, [most likely July 19] in "Kongshavn"--King's Haven near Christiana (Oslo), Norway. His father, Ole Hartvig Nissen, was the owner and principal of a private school with 700 boys and 300 girls and was made chief of Norways public schools in 1867. Nissen was the 8th child in a family of 10 children. He graduated high school year 1872. An eye injury from a childhood snow ball fight prevented him from entering military school.
Maps Hartvig Nissen (gymnast)
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 became a Teachers Assistant and Principal of Oslo Turnforening.
Around 1879 he studied the German system of gymnastics in Dresden, Saxony. He was considered to be the strongest gymnast in Norway during the late 1870's and up until he left Norway on January 26, 1883 for the USA. He arrived in New York City on February 15, 1883.
Working Days in Washington, D.C.
In March 1883 he moved to Washington, DC where a few days after arriving he visited the German Gymnastic Club and obtained a position teaching a class of 14 women. After a couple of weeks he had 50 students consisting of women ranging between the ages of 13 to 50 attending his classes. He also held classes in the Franklin School until the spring of 1885.
The following September 1883 he opened a high school in an armory on "E" street between 9 and 10 N.W.
On January 4th, 1884, he held an exhibition in his high school comprised by girls and boys performing Swedish gymnastics, wand exercises, dumbbells, fancy steps, Swedish folk dances and games. This was the first time Swedish gymnastics and folk dances were officially exhibited in the United States.
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 Swede, Ms. Helene Peterson, in the summer of 1884. She had been his assistant ever since he opened the institute.
Nissen is thought to have introduced the study of Swedish Gymnastics, and Swedish Massage to the United States.
Later Years
He died on February 4, 1874 of heart failure.
Bibliography
Nissen has an extensive bibliography. His best known books include:
- ABC of the Swedish System of Educational Gymnastics: A Practical Hand-Book for School Teachers and the Home
- Gymnastic Systems
- Health by Exercises without Apparatus
- Practical Massage and Corrective Exercises with Applied Anatomy
- Rational Home Gymnastics
- School Gymnastic-Card System
- A Manual on Swedish Movements and Massage Treatments
References
External links
- Practical Massage and Corrective Exercises with Applied Anatomy by Hartvig Nissen
- Famous Massage Therapists - Hartvig Nissen
- OTHER INFLUENCES ON AMERICAN GYMNASTICS - Posse and Nissen
Source of article : Wikipedia
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