Hjalmar Christensen (5 May 1869 – 29 December 1925) was a Norwegian writer and a prominent literary critic.

Biography

Christensen was born at

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the southernmost parts of Brem ...

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

, Norway. He was raised on a farm in the community of

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Før ...

. He was the son of Michael Sundt Tuchsen Christensen (1827–95) and Frederikke Sophie Elster (1838–1927). His brother

Ingolf Elster Christensen Ingolf Elster Christensen (28 March 1872 – 3 May 1943) was a Norwegian jurist, military officer, county governor, and Member of Parliament from the Conservative Party. Biography Christensen was born at Sunnfjord in Sogn og Fjordane, N ...

served as a government official and a member of the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

. He attended

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School ( Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. L ...

. He studied law and received a legal degree at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

(now

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

) in 1892. From 1893 to 1898, Christensen was an instructor at the Christiania Theater and lectured for several years at the

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen () is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The University Museum of Bergen was fo ...

. In 1898, the post as professor of literary history at the Royal Frederick University had become vacant. Christensen applied for the post which went to

Gerhard Gran Gerhard von der Lippe Gran (9 December 1856 – 7 April 1925) was a Norwegian literary historian, professor, magazine editor, essayist and biographer. Personal life Gran was born in Bergen as the son of merchant Christen Knagenhjelm Gran (1822 ...

. He subsequently studied classical philology and history and in 1902 was awarded his Dr. philos. Christensen wrote a number of articles in magazines, weeklies, and newspapers. He also wrote thirty-two books, many featuring communities in Sunnfjord. Christensen published a number of novels with cultural history content. His most noted book ''Fogedgården, Af en bygds historie'' (1911) featured a culture description of life in Førde.

Selected works

*''Det retfærdige spil'' (1900) *''Vort litterære liv'' (1902) *''Danske digtere i nutiden'' (1904) *''Unge aa'' (1905) *''Et liv'' (1909) *''Fogedgården'' (1911) *''Brødrene'' (1911) *''Den gamle bygd'' (1913) *''Din egen herre'' (1913) *''Den nye bygd'' (1914) *''Far og søn'' (1915) *''Den hvide races selvmord'' (1916) *''Tuntræet'' (1917) *''Dæmring'' (1918) *''Professor Marga'' (1920) *''Klostret paa Undrum'' (1924)

References

Other sources

* *Jorgenson, Theodore (1939
''History of Norwegian Literature''
(Haskell House Publishing)

External links

Digitized books by Christensen
in the

National Library of Norway The National Library of Norway () was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened in 2005. Prior to the e ...

1869 births 1925 deaths People from Sunnfjord People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School University of Oslo alumni Norwegian writers Norwegian literary critics {{Norway-writer-stub