Anna Johanna Jacobsen was born in
Kappfjell, 30 October 1924. Her southern Sami family was involved with
reindeer herding, and her father was a pioneer in organizing the Sami community. At home, the family spoke southern Sami, and she did not learn
Norwegian until she started at the Sami school in
Havika outside
Namsos in the late 1930s. Her interest in the South Sami language was aroused while attending school. When she took the
examen artium at an early age, she had Southern Sami as a second language instead of
Nynorsk. Jacobsen went on to study
Northern Sami, German and South Sami at the university level, and became the first to be examined in South Sami. At her home in
Majavatn, Jacobsen organized a language group to grow the Sami language. The participants were only allowed to speak Sami. She also taught Sami in several schools. In the 1970s, she was active in preserving the Sami school in
Hattfjelldal, and she was also the spokeswoman for an action to create a Sami cultural center in the village, known later as
Sijti Jarnge. She was also active in the work to start a Southern Sami theater. Jacobsen was a language consultant for the Sami Education Council from 1987 to 1991, and worked actively on publishing dictionaries. For several years, she was responsible for South Sami at
NRK. The children's book,
Åvla (2013), is based on
fairy tales she told in NRK
Sápmi. Interviews and other audio recordings of Jacobsen are published by the
National Archives of Norway. Jacobsen started her own publishing company where she published several texts. Together with
Bierna Bientie, she translated the
Gospel of St. Mark into Southern Sami. This was published by the
Norwegian Bible Society in 1993 under the title,
Jupmelen rijhke lea castskes (Kingdom of God is near). In
Salmer 1997, there are four texts, which she translated into Southern Sami, and in
Norsk salmebok 2013, she has four translations and a distinctive text. Jacobsen died 2 April 2004. ==Awards and honors==