Nils Lie (17 May 1902 – 19 April 1978) was a Norwegian writer, literary consultant and translator. As a writer, he is known for the crime novel ''Bergenstoget plyndret inat'' from 1923. He was a long-time literary consultant for

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS, commonly referred to as Gyldendal N.F. and in Norway often only as Gyldendal, is one of the largest Norway, Norwegian publishing houses. It was founded in 1925 after buying rights to publications from the Denmark, Dan ...

, and received prizes for his translation works.

Personal life

Born in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

on 17 May 1902, Lie was the son of Vilhelm Gabriel Heiberg Lie and Anna Benedicte Aars Nicolaysen. He was first married to Ingeborg Nicoline Stang Lund. Their marriage was dissolved, and in 1935 he married Rikke Anna Catarina Scott-Hansen.

Career

Education and consultance work

Having passed

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

at the

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 ...

in 1919, Lie graduated with a cand.mag. degree in philology from the

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 1925. In 1926, he was assigned as editor for the weekly family magazine ''

Hjemmet ''Hjemmet'', pronounced "yemmeh" (English: ''Home'') is a Norwegian weekly family magazine published in Oslo, Norway. It has been in circulation since 1909. History and profile ''Hjemmet'' was launched by the Hjemmet Mortensen AB in 1909, whic ...

''. From 1935, he worked as a literary consultant for the publishing house

. During 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 ...

, he resigned his job at Gyldendal, and resided in London from 1942 to 1945. He continued his work for Gyldendal after the war, until his retirement in 1972.

Translator

Lie translated a large number of books into

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

, including works by Frans G. Bengtsson,

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

and

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

. He was awarded the

Bastian Prize The Bastian Prize () is a prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. The prize, established in 1951, is given for translating a published work into Norwegian language. The award is a statue made by Ørnulf Bast, ...

in 1954 for his translation of a work by

Alan Paton Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels '' Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948), '' Too Late the Phalarope'' (1953), and the short story ''The Wa ...

. He received

Arts Council Norway The Arts Council Norway (, often shortened to ''Kulturrådet'') is the official arts council for Norway. Based in Oslo, it is a Norwegian state institution created in as a result of a parliamentary decision in 1964. Arts Council Norway's admini ...

's translation prize in 1970.

Writer

In 1923, Lie published the crime novel ', written jointly with fellow student

Nordahl Grieg Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg (1 November 1902 – 2 December 1943) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and activism, political activist. He was a popular author and a controversial public figure. He served in World War II as a war c ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Jonathan Jerv. The novel's narrative is a group of students in need of money that commit a robbery of train passengers on the railway from Bergen to Oslo, while the train up in the high mountains. The book was basis for a silent film from 1928, directed by

Uwe Jens Krafft Uwe Jens Krafft (born Gustav Heinrich Walter Krafft; 23 December 1878 – 12 December 1929) was a German actor, film director, screenwriter, set designer, and film editor. He directed more than fifteen films from 1917 to 1929. Selected filmography ...

. Further books are the children's book ''Trekløveret'' from 1924, and the novel ''På sporet'' for young adults from 1930. He also wrote a short biography of his distant relative, the writer Jonas Lie, and edited short story anthologies and poetry anthologies.

Death

Lie died in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

on 19 April 1978, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lie, Nils 1902 births 1978 deaths People from Bergen University of Oslo alumni Norwegian magazine editors Norwegian writers Norwegian translators Norwegian publishers (people)