Johan Borgen

Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966.

Biography

He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Poul Holst Borgen (1867–1941) and Andrea Elfrida Bommen (1868–1958).
He was raised in the borough of Frogner as the youngest of four sons in the family of a successful attorney. He attended private schools; first at Frøenene Platous Forskole, then at Frogner Skole. He graduated artium in 1920. In 1923, Borgen received a part-time position as a journalist at ''Dagbladet''. He started his column which featured a series of ironic and satirical articles writing under the pseudonym "Mumle Gåsegg". He was employed by ''Dagbladet'' from 1923 to 1941 and by ''Morgenbladet'' from 1928 to 1930. During the 1930s, he also translated books from different languages within a variety of genres.

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, he wrote a series of ironic, derogatory articles about the Nazi regime.
Eventually he was arrested and sent to Grini concentration camp. He later escaped and continued to write against the occupation power. His illegal work was quickly rediscovered and he had to escape across the border with Sweden. After the liberation of Norway in 1945, he was a short-time editor of culture in the newspaper ''Friheten''. During the period 1947–59, he worked as a stage instructor in Oslo and instructed over forty performances. Borgen was editor of the literary magazine '' Vinduet'' from 1954 to 1959.

In 1925, he debuted as an author of fiction with the novel ''Mot mørket''. With the novel ''Hvetebrødsdager'' (1948), Borgen achieved an artistic breakthrough, and he followed up with ''Noveller om kjærlighet'' (1952) and ''Natt og dag'' (1954). His semi-autobiographical novel ''Lillelord'' (1955) is his best-known book. ''Lillelord'' is the first book in the trilogy that also includes ''De mørke kilder'' and ''Vi har ham nå'' published in 1956 and 1957.

Personal life

From 1934 until his death in 1979, he was married to novelist Annemarta Evjenth Borgen (1913–1988). The couple were the parents of three children, including the author Brett Borgen (1934–2014).

Awards

*1945: Gyldendal's Endowment
*1955: Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature
*1965: Dobloug Prize
*1965: Bokhandlerprisen for ''Lillelord''
*1967: Nordic Council's Literature Prize

References

Other sources

*Randi Birn (1977) ''Johan Borgen – En litterær biografi'' (Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag)

1902 births
1979 deaths
Writers from Oslo
20th-century Norwegian novelists
20th-century Norwegian short story writers
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners
Dobloug Prize winners
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
Grini concentration camp survivors
20th-century Norwegian journalists

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