Carl Johan Fredrik Engelstad (11 November 1915 – 1 October 1996) was a Norwegian writer, playwright, journalist, translator and theatre director.

Personal life

Engelstad was born in

Hadsel Hadsel ( sme, Válafierda) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Stokmarknes. Other villages in Hadsel include Fiskeb� ...

as the son of jurist Sigurd Engelstad (1878–1916) and younger brother of archivist Sigurd Engelstad. He married Vibeke Engelstad, a physician. Their son

Fredrik Fredrik is a masculine Germanic given name derived from the German name '' Friedrich'' or Friederich, from the Old High German ''fridu'' meaning "peace" and ''rîhhi'' meaning "ruler" or "power". It is the common form of Frederick in Norway, Finla ...

became a professor of sociology, and married professor Irene Johnson.

Career

Carl Fredrik Engelstad was hired as a theatre critic in ''

Morgenbladet ''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science. History ''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseav ...

'' in 1945. He stayed here until 1960, the last two years as cultural editor. He was theatre director for

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiani ...

from 1960 to 1961, and from 1965 he worked in ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 millio ...

''. He was known for writing from a Christian viewpoint. From 1946 to 1949 he also edited the periodical '' Spektrum''. He debuted as a writer in 1949, with two plays. His novels included ''Gjester i mørket'' (1958), ''Størst blant dem'' (1977) and ''De levendes land'' (1986). For the two latter novels, Engelstad was awarded the

Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (''Den norske Kritikerprisen for litteratur'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Literature Critics' Association (''Norsk Litteraturkritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1950 ...

. He also wrote books about

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christiani ...

, Ronald Fangen,

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

and

Johan Herman Wessel Johan Herman Wessel (6 October 1742 – 29 December 1785) was an 18th-century Danish-Norwegian poet, satirist and playwright. His written work was characterized by the use of parody and satiric wit. Biography Wessel was born and raised at Ves ...

, among others.

Awards

1977, 1986 * Riksmål Society Literature Prize 1986

References

1915 births 1996 deaths Norwegian essayists Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian theatre critics 20th-century Norwegian translators 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male novelists 20th-century Norwegian journalists People from Hadsel {{Norway-writer-stub