Bjornstjerne Martinius Bjornson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature. Bjornson is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian National Anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet".
Background
Bjornson was born on December 8, 1832 at the farmstead of Bjorgan in Kvikne, a secluded village in the Østerdalen district, some sixty miles south of Trondheim. In 1837 Bjornson's father Peder Bjornson, who was the pastor of Kvikne, was transferred to the parish of Nesset, outside Molde in Romsdal. It was in this scenic district that Bjørnson spent his childhood, living at the Nesset Parsonage.
Education
After some teaching at the neighbouring town of Molde, Martinius Bjornson was sent at the age of seventeen to a well-known school in Christiania to study for the university; his instinct for poetry was already awakened, and indeed he had written verses from his eleventh year; He matriculated at the university of Christiania in 1852, and soon began to work as a journalist, especially as a dramatic critic.
Career
Martinius Bjornson threw himself into political, theatrical, and literary life with characteristic turbulence, quickly finding a mission in the promotion of a truly native culture. As early as 1854 he had made himself a recognized figure by his theatrical reviews, which led naturally into a campaign for replacing the Danish theater in Oslo with a native stage. His first novel, Synnove Solbakken (1857) (English translation Sunny Hill, 1939), a tale of country life, became one of the great turning points in Norwegian literature. During the years down to 1873 he alternated his writing between stories of contemporary rural life and dramas of ancient Norway, the only exception being a play about Mary Stuart (1864). Most of Bjørnson's leading figures have strong, rebellious personalities like his own, and have to battle with themselves to subdue their native truculence. Bjørnson did not confine himself to literary work: he published a magazine, directed a theater, and made political speeches on behalf of the growing liberal-nationalistic movement. One important result of this activity was the Norwegian national hymn, Ja, vi elsker dette Landet ("Yes, We Love This Land"), which he composed in 1859; another was the formation of a liberal party in the 1860's. He felt himself the heir of Henrik Wergeland, whose national ideals he sought to incorporate into Norwegian life.
After a period of lyric expression from 1868 to 1873, Bjørnson left for southern Europe to gain new impulses for his writing. For two years he traveled, chiefly in Italy and the Tirol, and by his return he had written two dramas which were both published in 1875: En Fallit ("A Bankruptcy") and Redaktören ("The Editor"). These were the first realistic dramas dealing with social problems in Scandinavia, the opening guns in an era of social criticism. He followed them with other dramas and novels treating the social issues of the day, many of them now forgotten, but some still vivid because of the deep feeling with which BjørnsonBjornson was able to endow them. Among them were Det flager i Byen og paa Havnen (1884) (English translation The Heritage of the Kurts, 1892), dealing with problems of sex education, and PåPa Guds Veje (1889) (In the Ways of God, 1890) on the conflict of science and religion. Bjørnson himself embraced a positivistic, evolutionary religion, in which there was no room for the Jehovah of Lutheranism, and he aroused great controversies by his public attacks on the State Church. Some of this controversial matter appears also in his dramas, including particularly Over Ævne I (1883) (Beyond Our Power, Part I, 1913), a powerful play that was intended to show the unhealthy effects of supernaturalism.
Politics
From his youth and forwards, Bjornson admired Henrik Wergeland, and became a vivid spokesman for the Norwegian Left-wing movement. In this respect, he supported Ivar Aasen, and joined forces in the political struggles in the 1860s and 1870s.
Connections
Martinius Bjornson was married to Karoline Reimers (1835–1934) in 1858. They had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood.