Jacob Fjelde

• Name — Jakob Fjelde • Birth Name — Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde • Born — 10 April 1859 • Birthplace — Ålesund, Norway • Died — 5 May 1896 • Place of death — Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. • Resting Place — Lakewood Cemetery • Occupation — sculptor • Children — Paul Fjelde • Relatives — Pauline Fjelde (sister)

Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde was born at Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. His father, Paul Gerhard Michelet Fjelde (1827–1873), was a skilled carpenter and wood carver. He had moved to the United States in 1872, but died the following year. Jakob Fjelde was a pupil of Brynjulf Bergslien during 1878. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1879 to 1881 and was a student of Vilhelm Bissen 1880–1882. He traveled abroad, living in Rome from 1882 to 1884. Fjelde lived and worked to Bergen, Norway from 1884 until 1887 when he immigrated to the United States. After arriving in America he settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following year he married the Danish-born Margrethe Madsen. They eventually had four children. He was the father of sculptor Paul Fjelde and the brother of artist Pauline Fjelde. His grandsons included Ibsen scholar Rolf G. Fjelde.

At the Industrial Exposition in Minneapolis during 1889 and 1890, Fjelde presented 18 busts and relief portraits, including marble busts of Sven Oftedal and Georg Sverdrup, both of whom would serve as Presidents of Augsburg College and were founders of the Lutheran Free Church. At the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago during 1893, he presented a bust of the Norwegian-American politician Knute Nelson. Jakob Fjelde had first sculpted Henrik Ibsen from life in Molde, Norway during 1885. Although Ibsen disliked sitting for artists, he took a liking to the precocious young sculptor, then 26 years old, and patiently sat for the bust.

• Illustration — 1st Minnesota Infantry Monument at Gettysburg National Battlefield • Illustration — Ole Bull statue at Loring Park • Illustration — Hiawatha and Minnehaha, 1912 statue at Minnehaha Park • Illustration — 1889 bronze sculpture of Minerva in Minneapolis Central Library atrium • Illustration — John H. Stevens statue at Minnehaha Park. Sculptor Johannes Gelert worked from drawings made by Fjelde.