Bjornstjerne Bjornson

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was born in 1832 in Kvikne, a village in the Østerdalen district of Norway. His father was a Lutheran minister who moved to Nesset, outside Molde, when Bjørnson was five years old. He spent his childhood in the scenic Romsdal region, which inspired many of his later works. He attended school in Molde and later in Christiania (now Oslo), where he prepared for university. He developed a talent for poetry and journalism, and published his first poem at the age of 17. He enrolled at the University of Oslo in 1852, but did not complete his degree. Instead, he pursued a career as a writer, critic, and editor. He also became involved in the political and cultural movements of his time, advocating for democracy, national independence, and social reform. He was influenced by the ideas of Georg Brandes, a Danish critic who called for literature to address the problems of contemporary society. Bjørnson was one of the first Norwegian writers to do so, and also experimented with various literary genres and forms. He wrote novels, short stories, plays, and poems, often drawing on the history and folklore of Norway. He is considered one of the four great Norwegian writers of the 19th century, along with Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland. He was also a friend and rival of Ibsen, and the two influenced each other's works. Bjørnson is best known for his peasant tales, such as Synnøve Solbakken (1857), Arne (1858), and A Happy Boy (1860), which depict the life and culture of the rural population. He also wrote historical dramas, such as Sigurd Slembe (1862) and Sigurd Jorsalfar (1872), which dramatize the lives of medieval Norwegian kings and heroes. He also wrote realistic and social dramas, such as The Bankrupt (1875) and The Editor (1874), which expose the corruption and hypocrisy of the urban bourgeoisie. He also wrote patriotic and lyrical poems, such as Ja, vi elsker dette landet (Yes, We Love This Country), which became the national anthem of Norway. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903 for his "noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit". Bjørnson was not only a writer, but also a public figure and a leader of opinion. He was the director of the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen from 1857 to 1859, and of the Christiania Theatre from 1865 to 1867. He was also a member of the Norwegian Parliament from 1871 to 1873, and from 1880 to 1881. He supported various causes, such as the abolition of the union with Sweden, the introduction of parliamentarism, the emancipation of women, the freedom of speech, and the rights of minorities. He also intervened in international affairs, such as the Dreyfus affair in France, the Armenian massacres in Turkey, and the Boer War in South Africa. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States, giving lectures and meeting other writers and intellectuals. He died in Paris in 1910, at the age of 77, from pneumonia. He was buried in Oslo, where his grave is a national monument.