Lovoll, Alf

File

Lovoll, Alf

• 1984-06-14 (Creation)

The interview was conducted with Alf Løvoll in Volda, Norway on June 14, 1984. The interview contains information on Alf's family background, whaling, emigration, settling in and working, return to Norway, and American customs and contacts. This interview was conducted in Norwegian. The tape has been partially translated. Also available is a black and white photograph of Alf and his wife at the time of the interview. Also see Astrid Løvoll.

Biographical Note

Alf Løvoll was born on October 9, 1901 on a farm in Koparnes, Søvde, on the West Coast of Norway. His parents were Martin Løvoll and Birta Bjørlykke, and there were ten children in the family. Alf was the oldest son, but he left home and became a fisherman. He emigrated in 1920 with an aunt and an uncle, John Lowell, who owned a fishing boat and fished in Alaska. Alf worked with this uncle in Alaska and also was a whaler in the Antarctic with the Union Whaling Company of South Africa; his job was kokeri, cooking whale bones. He married a Norwegian woman, Astrid Aase Løvoll, and bought a farm. They had three children; Magnar, Odd, and Svanhild, born in 1931, 1934, and 1937, respectively; all were born in Bjørlykke, Sande, Norway. Alf continued fishing halibut, tuna, and crab off the West Coast of the U.S. until he retired in 1966.

Lineage

Full Name: Alf Løvoll, Alf Lowell. Father: Morten Løvoll. Mother: Birte Bjørlykke. Paternal Grandfather: Lars Olsson Brudevoll Løvoll. Paternal Grandmother: Anne Olsdatter Løvoll. Maternal Grandfather: Bent Olsson. Maternal Grandmother: Dorte Knutsdatter Bjørlykke. Brothers and Sisters: Louise Løvoll [+1899], Borghild Løvoll, Bendikk Løvoll, Dina Løvoll, Peter Løvoll, Berta Løvoll, Alvhild Løvoll, Kjellaug Løvoll, Lars Løvoll. Spouse: Astrid Aase Løvoll. Children: Magnar Løvoll [+1951], Odd Løvoll, Svanhild Løvoll.