Evje

Evje is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 177 km2 municipality existed from 1877 until 1960. It was located in what is now the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Evje og Hornnes in the Setesdal valley of Agder county. The administrative centre was the village of Evje where the Evje Church is located. The lake Høvringsvatnet is located about 10 km northeast of the village.

History
The municipality of Evje was created on 1 January 1877 when the old municipality of Evje og Vegusdal was divided into Evje (population: 870) and Vegusdal (population: 935). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, Evje (population: 1,646) was merged with the neighboring municipality of Hornnes (population: 1,280) to form the new municipality of Evje og Hornnes.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Evje farm (Efja) since the first Evje Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "backwater" or "mud" (likely referring to a shallow, backwater part of the local river Otra).

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Evje was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Evje:


 * 1877-1877: Salve E. Bjoraa
 * 1878-1881: Ola N. Løvland
 * 1882-1893: Ola G. Lauvland
 * 1894-1901: Ola N. Galteland
 * 1902-1910: Ola N. Løvland
 * 1910-1919: Eirik S. Bjoraa
 * 1920-1922: Nils T. Odde
 * 1923-1925: Ola N. Galteland
 * 1926-1928: John A. Syrtveit
 * 1928-1940: Torvald Haavardstad
 * 1945-1959: Torvald Haavardstad

Notable people

 * Torvald Haavardstad (1893–1965), a Norwegian politician
 * Helena Iren Michaelsen (born 1977), a Norwegian rock singer