Christen Henriksen Pram (4 September 1756 – 28 November 1821) was a Norwegian/Danish economist, civil servant, poet, novelist, playwright, diarist and magazine editor. He is held as the first Norwegian novelist, although his writing was carried out in the

Danish language Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...

Personal life

Christen was born in

Lesja Lesja is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lesja. Other villages in the municipality include Bjorli, Lesjas ...

, a son of Minister Henrik Frederik Pram and Olava Maria de Stockfleth. When he was eight years old, he moved with his family to Denmark, when his father assumed a position as vicar in

Sjælland Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising ...

. He married Maria Magdalena Erichsen in 1782. He died on the island of Saint Thomas, in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

, in 1821. Pram was a member of the

Norwegian Society The Norwegian Society (''Norske Selskab'') was a literary society for Norwegian students in Copenhagen active from 1772 to 1813. Its members included authors, poets and philosophers. The Norwegian Society was formed in 1772 by Ove Gjerløw Meye ...

in Copenhagen.

Career

Prom assumed various positions in

Kommercekollegiet Kommercekollegiet (The Board of Trade or The Trade Authority), also Kommercekollegium, was a central executive agency for commercial, marine and industrial affairs under the absolute monarchy of Denmark. It functioned with variations in scope and u ...

(the Copenhagen College of Commerce), where he was appointed in 1781. He made his literary breakthrough in 1782, with the poem "Emilias Kilde". His best known literary work is the epic cycle of poems ''Stærkodder'' of 1785, based on the legendary hero

Starkaðr ''Starkad'' ( or ; Latin: ''Starcaterus''; in the Late Middle Ages also ''Starkodder''; Danish language, modern Danish: ''Stærkodder'')The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. was either an eight-armed giant or the human grandson of ...

from

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

monumental work ''

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

''. He co-founded and co-edited the cultural magazine ''Minerva'' from 1785, in cooperation with Knud Lyne Rahbek. He was the sole editor of ''Minerva'' from 1789, but after having received warnings over his enthusiasm for the French Revolution, he resigned as editor in 1793. In 1820, as a consequence of a failed marriage and economic difficulties, he moved to the

to assume a position as customs customs inspector in Charlotte Amalie on Saint Thomas. For his farewell party in Copenhagen, in April 1820,

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential p ...

wrotethe son ''Langt højere bjerge så vide på jord''. He died on Saint Thomas in 1821.

Literary works

He is regarded as the first Norwegian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. Among his novels are ''Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse (Jørgen, the Biography of a fool)'' and ''Hans Kruuskop'' of 1786, and ''John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens Historie (John Thral. A Contribution to the History of Freedom)'' of 1787. He wrote the comedy ''Ægteskabsskolen (The School for Marriage)'' in 1795. In the same year he delivered a prize-winning contribution to the preparations for a university in Norway.

Bibliography

* ''Philippa til Erik'' (1779) * ''Emilias Kilde'' (1782) * ''Hymne til Vaaren'' (1784) * ''Stærkodder. Et Digt i femten Sange'' (1785) * ''Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse'', novel (1786) * ''Hans Kruuskop'', novel (1786) * ''John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens Historie'' (1787) * ''Om en Husmoders Pligter'' (1787) * ''Lagertha'' (1789), historic drama * ''Damon og Pythias'' (1790), historic drama * ''Frode og Fingal'' (1790), historic drama * ''Forsøg om Dragten, især for Danmark og Norge'' (1791) * ''Negeren'' (1791), drama * ''Ægteskabsskolen. Lystspil i fem Akter'' (1795), drama * ''Serenaden eller de sorte Næser'' (1795), drama * ''Forsøg om en Højskoles Anlæg i Norge'' (1795) * ''Undersøgelse om den kjøbenhavnske Waisenhusstiftelse'' (1796) * ''Brønden'' (1800), drama * ''Frokosten i Bellevue'' (1803), drama

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pram, Christen 1756 births 1821 deaths 18th-century Danish novelists 19th-century Danish novelists 18th-century male writers Danish male novelists Danish male poets 19th-century Norwegian novelists People from Lesja 18th-century Norwegian poets 18th-century Danish poets 18th-century Norwegian writers 19th-century Norwegian male writers Danish diarists 19th-century Danish letter writers Norwegian male poets 18th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian diarists 18th-century diarists Norwegian male novelists Writers from Denmark–Norway