Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson (8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
writer and the 1903
Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of "The Great Four" Norwegian writers; the others being
Henrik IbsenHenrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family...
,
Jonas LieJonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was a Norwegian novelist, considered to be one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature.-Life:Jonas Lie was born in Modum in Eiker, Buskerud county in southern Norway...
, and
Alexander KiellandAlexander Lange Kielland was one of the most famous Norwegian authors of the 19th century. Born in Stavanger, Norway, he grew up in a rich merchant family. Even though he was born rich he had a sincere affection for the less fortunate. And he treated his workers well when he was a factory owner...
. Bjørnson is celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian National Anthem, "
Ja, vi elsker dette landetis the national anthem of Norway. It is commonly referred to as just "Ja, vi elsker" . The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868, and the melody was written by his cousin Rikard Nordraak in 1864. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th...
".
Childhood and education
Bjørnson was born at the farmstead of Bjørgen in
KvikneKvikne is a former municipality in Hedmark, Norway and a mountain village between Østerdalen and Trøndelag. The river Orkla begins in Kvikne. Further south the river Tunna descends to meet the Glomma....
, a secluded village in the
ØsterdalenØsterdalen or Østerdal is a valley and traditional district in the eastern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Rendalen, Alvdal, Folldal,Tynset, Tolga and Os in the north, Elverum, Stor-Elvdal, Engerdal,Trysil and Åmot in the south....
district, some sixty miles south of
Trondheimis a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The city of Trondheim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
. In 1837 Bjørnson's father, who was the pastor of Kvikne, was transferred to the parish of
NessetNesset is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal Peninsula. The administrative centre is the village of Eidsvåg.Nesset was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
, outside
MoldeMolde is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region.Molde is the administrative center of Møre og Romsdal county, the commercial hub of Romsdal, and the host of the bishop of Møre....
in
RomsdalRomsdal is the name of a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal. It is located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre...
. It was in this scenic district that Bjørnson spent his childhood. After a few years studying in the neighboring city
MoldeMolde is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region.Molde is the administrative center of Møre og Romsdal county, the commercial hub of Romsdal, and the host of the bishop of Møre....
, Bjørnson was sent to
Heltbergs Studentfabrikk in
Christianiais the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
to prepare for university, at the age of 17 - the same school that trained
IbsenHenrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family...
,
LieJonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was a Norwegian novelist, considered to be one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature.-Life:Jonas Lie was born in Modum in Eiker, Buskerud county in southern Norway...
, and
VinjeAasmund Olavsson Vinje was a famous Norwegian poet and journalist who is remembered for poetry, travel writing, and his pioneering use of Landsmål ....
. He had realized that he wanted to pursue his talent for poetry (he had written verses since age eleven). Bjørnson matriculated at the
University of OsloThe University of Oslo is the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.It was founded in 1811 as The Royal Frederick University...
in 1852, soon embarking upon a career as a
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
, focusing on criticism of drama.
Early production
In 1857 Bjørnson published
Synnøve Solbakken, the first of his peasant novels. In 1858 this was followed by
Arne, in 1860 by
En glad Gut (A Happy Boy), and in 1868 by
Fiskerjenten (The Fisher Maiden). These are the most important specimens of his
bonde-fortellinger or peasant tales.
Bjørnson was anxious "to create a new saga in the light of the peasant," as he put it, and he thought this should be done, not merely in prose fiction, but in national dramas or
folke-stykker. The earliest of these was a one-act piece set in the 12th century,
Mellem Slagene (Between the Battles), written in 1855 and produced in 1857. He was especially influenced at this time by the study of
Jens Immanuel BaggesenJens Immanuel Baggesen was a Danish poet.Baggesen was born at Korsør. His parents were very poor, and before he was twelve he was sent to copy documents at the office of the clerk of the district. He was a melancholy, feeble child, and before this he had attempted suicide more than once...
and
Adam Gottlob OehlenschlägerAdam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.-Biography:He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on November 14, 1779...
, during a visit to
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
.
Mellem Slagene was followed by
Halte-Hulda (Lame Hulda) in 1858, and
Kong Sverre (King Sverre) in 1861. His most important work to date was the poetic trilogy of
Sigurd Slembe (Sigurd the Bad), which Bjørnson published in 1862.
The mature author
At the close of 1857 Bjørnson had been appointed director of the theater at
BergenBergen is the second largest city in Norway, with a population of 253,600 as of July 2009. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Economic Region, as defined by Statistics Norway, had a population of 385,450 as of January 2009.Bergen is located in the...
, a post which he held for two years, when he returned to
Christianiais the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
. From 1860 to 1863 he traveled widely throughout
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. Early in 1865 he undertook the management of the Christiania theatre, and brought out his popular comedy of
De Nygifte (The Newly Married) and his romantic tragedy of
Mary StuartMary I was Queen of Scots from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V. She was six days old when her father died and made her Queen of Scots...
in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 1870 he published
Poems and Songs and the epic cycle
Arnljot Gelline; the latter volume contains the ode
Bergliot, one of Bjørnson's finest contributions to lyrical poetry.
Between 1864 and 1874, Bjørnson displayed a slackening of the intellectual forces very remarkable in a man of his energy; he was mainly occupied with politics and with his business as a theatrical manager. This was the period of Bjørnson's most fiery propaganda as a radical agitator. In 1871 he began to supplement his journalistic work by delivering lectures throughout
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
.
From 1874 to 1876 Bjørnson was absent from
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, and in the peace of voluntary exile he recovered his imaginative powers. His new departure as a dramatic author began with
En fallit (A Bankruptcy) and
Redaktøren (The Editor) in 1874, social dramas of an extremely modern and realistic cast.
The "national poet"
Bjørnson settled on his estate of Aulestad in
GausdalGausdal is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru...
. In 1877 he published another novel,
Magnhild, in which his ideas on social questions were seen to be in a state of fermentation, and gave expression to his
republicanRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of Republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in...
sentiments in the polemical play
Kongen (The King). In a later edition of the play, he prefixed an essay on "Intellectual Freedom" in further explanation of his position.
Kaptejn Mansana (Captain Mansana), an episode of the war of Italian independence, was written in to 1878.
Extremely anxious to obtain full success on the stage, Bjørnson concentrated his powers on a drama of social life,
Leonarda (1879), which raised a violent controversy. A satirical play,
Det nye System (The New System), was produced a few weeks later. Although these plays of Bjørnson's second period were greatly discussed, few were financially successful.
Bjørnson produced a social drama,
En Handske (A Gauntlet), in 1883, but was unable to persuade any manager to stage it except in a modified form. In the autumn of the same year, Bjørnson published a mystical or symbolic drama
Over Ævne (Beyond Powers), dealing with the abnormal features of religious excitement with extraordinary force; this was not acted until 1899, when it achieved a great success.
Political interests
From his youth and forwards, Bjørnson admired
Henrik WergelandHenrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...
, and became a vivid spokesman for the Norwegian Left-wing movement. In this respect, he supported
Ivar AasenIvar Andreas Aasen was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright and poet.-Background:Aasen was born at Åsen in Ørsta , in the district of Sunnmøre, on the west coast of Norway. His father, a small peasant-farmer named Ivar Jonsson, died in 1826...
, and joined forces in the political struggles in the 1860s and -70s. When the great monument over Henrik Wergeland were to be erected in 1881, it came to political struggle between left and right, and the left-wing got the upper hand. Bjørnson presented the speech on behalf of Wergeland, and also honouring the constitution and the farmers.
Bjørnson's political opinions had brought upon him a charge of high
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
, and he took refuge for a time in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, returning to Norway in 1882. Convinced that the theater was practically closed to him, he turned back to the novel, and published in 1884
Det flager i Byen og paa Havnen (Flags are Flying in Town and Port), embodying his theories on heredity and education. In 1889 he printed another long and still more remarkable novel,
Paa Guds veje (On God's Path), which is chiefly concerned with the same problems. The same year saw the publication of a comedy,
Geografi og Kærlighed (Geography and Love), which met with success.
A number of short stories, of a more or less didactic character, dealing with startling points of emotional experience, were collected and published 1894. Later plays were a political tragedy called
Paul Lange og Tora Parsberg (1898), a second part of
Over Ævne (Beyond Powers II) (1895),
Laboremus (1901),
På Storhove (At Storhove) (1902), and
Daglannet (Dag's Farm) (1904). In 1899, at the opening of the National Theatre, Bjørnson received an ovation, and his saga-drama of Sigurd the Crusader was performed at the opening of
NationaltheatretNationaltheatret is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts.The theater had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theater, which was founded in 1829...
in
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
.
A subject which interested him greatly was the question of the
bondemaalNynorsk or New Norwegian is one of the two official written languages in Norway, the other being Bokmål. Just above 10% of the Norwegian population use Nynorsk as their primary written language...
, the adopting of a national language for Norway distinct from the
dansk-norsk (Dano-Norwegian), in which most Norwegian literature had hitherto been written. At an early stage, before 1860, Bjørnson had himself experimented with at least one short story written in
landsmålNynorsk or New Norwegian is one of the two official written languages in Norway, the other being Bokmål. Just above 10% of the Norwegian population use Nynorsk as their primary written language...
. The interest, however, did not last, and he soon abandoned this enterprise altogether. Afterwards, he regretted that he never felt he gained the mastery of this language. Bjørnson's strong and sometimes rather narrow
patriotismPatriotism is love of and/or devotion to one's country. The word comes from the Greek patris, meaning fatherland. However, patriotism has had different meanings over time, and its meaning is highly dependent upon context, geography and philosophy....
did not blind him to what he considered the fatal folly of such a proposal, and his lectures and pamphlets against the
målstræv in its extreme form were very effective. His attitude towards this must have changed sometime after 1881, as he still spoke on behalf of the farmers at this point. Although he seems to have been supportive of
Ivar AasenIvar Andreas Aasen was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright and poet.-Background:Aasen was born at Åsen in Ørsta , in the district of Sunnmøre, on the west coast of Norway. His father, a small peasant-farmer named Ivar Jonsson, died in 1826...
and friendly towards farmers (in the peasant-novels), he later denounced this, and stated in 1899 that there was limits to a farmer's cultivation.
I can draw a line on the wall. The farmer can cultivate himself to this level, and no more, he wrote in 1899. Rumour has it that he had been insulted by a farmer at some point, and came with the statement in sheer anger. In 1881, he spoke of the farmer's clothing borne by Henrik Wergeland, and his opinion then states that this garment, worn by Wergeland, was "of the most influential things" in the initiation of the national day. Bjørnson's attitude towards the farmers remain ambiguous. One has to remember that his father himself was a farmer's son.
Last years
Bjørnson was, from the beginning of the
Dreyfus AffairThe Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November, 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
, a staunch supporter of
Alfred DreyfusAlfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
, and, according to a contemporary, wrote "article after article in the papers and proclaimed in every manner his belief in his innocence".
Bjørnson was one of the original members of the
Norwegian Nobel CommitteeThe Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
, that awards the
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
, where he sat frm 1901 to 1906. In 1903 he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
.
Bjørnson had done as much as any other man to rouse Norwegian nationalistic feeling, but in 1903, on the verge of the rupture between
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
and
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
, he preached conciliation and moderation to the Norwegians. However in 1905 when Norway was attempting to dissolve the forced union with Sweden, Bjørnson sent a telegram to the Norwegian Prim minister stating, "Now is the time to maintain a united front." The minister replied, "Now is the time to keep our mouths shut."
One of his last works, an amusing comedy titled
Når den ny vin blomstrer (When the New Wine Blooms), which was published in 1909. His parting words can be taken from this play, "When the new vintage blooms, the old one ferments."
He died on 26 April 1910 in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where for some years he had spent his winters, and was buried at home with every mark of honor. The Norwegian
coastal defence shipCoastal defense ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defense, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armor and armament...
HNoMS NorgeHNoMS Norge, or Panserskipet Norge in Norwegian, was a coastal defence ship of the Eidsvold class in the Royal Norwegian Navy...
was sent to convey his remains back to his own land.
Bjørnson's family
Bjørnson was the son of the Reverend Mr. Peder Bjørnson and Inger Elise Nordraach. He married Karoline Reimers (1835-1934) in 1858. They had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood:
- Bjørn Bjørnson (1859–1942)
- Einar Bjørnson (1864–1942)
- Erling Bjørnson (1868–1959)
- Bergliot Bjørnson (1869–1953)
- Dagny Bjørnson (1871–1872)
- Dagny Bjørnson (1876–1974)
Karoline Bjørnson remained at Aulestad until her death in 1934.
Sources
- Georg Brandes
Georg Morris Cohen Brandes was a Danish critic and scholar who had great influence on Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Break-through" of Scandinavian culture...
, Critical Studies of Ibsen and Bjørnson (1899)
- William Morton Payne, Björnstjerne Björnson, 1832-1910 (1910)
- Christen Christian Dreyer Collin , Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson hans barndom og ungdom (1923)
- Harold Larson, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson: A Study in Norwegian Literature (1944)
- Eva Lund Haugen
Eva Lund Haugen was an American author and editor. Haugen was born in Kongsvinger, in Hedmark county, Norway. Haugen was twelve years old when her journalist parents emigrated in 1919. They settled in Decorah, Iowa, where both parents worked for the Norwegian-American newspaper, Decorah-Posten...
and Einar HaugenEinar Ingvald Haugen was an American linguist, author and Professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard University.-Biography:...
, Bjørnson: Land of the free. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's American Letters 1880-1881 (1978)
- Einar Haugen
Einar Ingvald Haugen was an American linguist, author and Professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard University.-Biography:...
, The Vocabulary of Bjørnson's Literary Works (1978)
- Per Amdam, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1978)
External links
- http://www.ndsu.edu/heritage/stone/bjornson.htmBjørnstjerne Bjørnson monument by Sigvald Asbjornsen
Sigvald Asbjornsen was a Norwegian born American sculptor.-Background:Sigvald Asbjørnsen was born in Oslo, Norway. Asbjørnsen studied art with Mathias Skeibrok and Julius Middelthun and under Brynjulf Bergslien...
] (A biographical essay, 1910, by William Morton PayneWilliam Morton Payne was an American educator, literary critic and writer.-Biography:Payne was the son of Henry Norton Payne, a cotton-mill machinery manufacturer in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Emma Tilton. In 1868 his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he continued his education...
, a translator of various works by Bjørnson.)