Axel Zetlitz Kielland (14 February 1907 – 25 November 1963) was a Norwegian journalist, crime reporter, theatre critic and playwright.

Personal life

Kielland was born in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

to writer Jens Zetlitz Kielland (1873–1926) and Anna Gunhilde Holst, and was a grandson of writer

Alexander Kielland Alexander Lange Kielland (; 18 February 1849 – 6 April 1906) was a Norwegian realistic writer of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called " The Four Greats" of Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson an ...

. He was married to actress

Sonja Mjøen Sonja Mjøen (25 December 1898 – 25 February 1993) was a Norwegian actress, journalist and author. Biography She was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Claire Grevérus Mjøen (1874–1963) and Jon Alfred Mj ...

from 1932 to 1946, and to Agni Krein from 1947.

Career

Kielland worked for the newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'' from 1927. Among his plays was ''Hvis et folk vil leve'' from 1943, on the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

. The play was prohibited by the Swedish government after German protests. His play ''Herren og hans tjenere'' from 1955 had success at several Scandinavian stages, and was basis for a 1959 film by

Arne Skouen Arne Skouen (18 October 1913 – 24 May 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, author, film director and film producer. Biography Arne Skouen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Peder Nikolai Skouen (1883-1978) and Jenn ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kielland, Axel 1907 births 1963 deaths Writers from Stavanger Norwegian crime writers Norwegian resistance members 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian male writers Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian journalists