birth_date: 1900-11-29 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.54
name: Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen
about: Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen occupies a distinct place in Scandinavian literature. He is the only Faroese writer to achieve international best-seller status. This status derives from his sole novel, Barbara: Roman (1939; translated, 1948), which has the added cachet of being one of the few Scandinavian novels to be translated twice into English within the space of fifty years. It was also adapted as a motion picture directed by Nils Malmros in 1997 (see Barbara). These facts, together with Jacobsen's essays, a study of the Faroe Islands published in the guise of a travel guide, and a volume of his letters, are sufficient to suggest that had he lived longer, he would have been one of the outstanding literary figures in Scandinavia in the twentieth Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen occupies a distinct place in Scandinavian literature. He is the only Faroese writer to achieve international best-seller status. This status derives from his sole novel, Barbara: Roman (1939; translated, 1948), which has the added cachet of being one of the few Scandinavian novels to be translated twice into English within the space of fifty years. It was also adapted as a motion picture directed by Nils Malmros in 1997 (see Barbara). These facts, together with Jacobsen's essays, a study of the Faroe Islands published in the guise of a travel guide, and a volume of his letters, are sufficient to suggest that had he lived longer, he would have been one of the outstanding literary figures in Scandinavia in the twentieth century. He must moreover be seen in the context of his being one of five Faroese writers, all born between 1900 and 1903, who represent a remarkable blossoming of literature in a country which had no tradition of literature in a modern sense. Jacobsen, together with William Heinesen, Christian Matras, Hedin Brú, and Martin Joensen, created modern Faroese literature, whether writing in Danish, as did Jacobsen and Heinesen, or Faroese, as did the others.The principal character in the novel, Barbara, is based upon Jacobsen's lover, Estrid, who was also the translator of the first English version of the book. Many passages in Det dyrebare Liv refer to the title character of the novel, though it is nowhere directly revealed that she and Estrid were the same. However, Estrid was the Barbara of the novel and by the time Det dyrebare Liv was published, the identity of the two was common knowledge. It is worth noting that Jacobsen once remarked that he had tried to fashion Pastor Poul after himself.Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen died 24 March 1938, after suffering from tuberculosis for nearly sixteen years. ...more
death_date: 1938-03-24 00:00:00