Eric Norelius

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Eric Norelius (October 26, 1833 – March 15, 1916) was a Swedish‑American Lutheran minister, church leader, and author. He was born in Hassela, Sweden, and studied in Hudiksvall. At 17 he moved to the United States in 1850. In 1851 he began studies at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, with help from Lars Paul Esbjörn, and was ordained in 1855. He served Swedish congregations in Red Wing and Vasa, Minnesota, moved to Attica, Indiana in 1858, and returned to Minnesota in 1863. In 1865 his congregation helped four orphaned immigrant children; this led to the Vasa Lutheran Home for Children, the first Swedish Lutheran orphanage in Minnesota.

Norelius helped found the Augustana Synod and served as its president from 1870 to 1881 and again from 1901 to 1910. He also founded the Minnesota Conference of the Augustana Synod and started Minnesota Elementar Skola, a precursor to Gustavus Adolphus College.

Beyond church work, he was a prolific publisher and editor. He helped start Minnesota Posten (1857–58), which merged with Hemlandet, and he co-edited Svensk Luthersk Tidskrift (which became Skaffaren). He edited Missionären (1870–71) and was editor‑in‑chief of Skaffaren until 1882, as well as later editing Augustana and Korsbaneret. From 1899 to 1909 he edited Tidskrift för svensk evangelisk luthersk kyrkohistoria i Amerika (later The Augustana Theological Quarterly). In his later years he researched and wrote the history of the Swedish Lutheran churches in America and Swedish‑American immigration. His works include Vasa illustrata (1905), a history of Vasa; The history of the Swedish Lutheran congregations and Swedish‑Americans (1890); and a biography of Tuve Hasselquist (1900).

His papers are at the Swenson Center at Augustana College and at Gustavus Adolphus College. Gustavus Adolphus College honors him with Norelius Hall and the Eric Norelius Award. A statue honoring him was erected in Lindström, Minnesota, in 2015. Eric Norelius died in Vasa, Minnesota, in 1916 at age 82.