Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-08-16

,A 50 ! 1BsIE ;oI IS s. ARr.
Flint Drama Produesd Ehsn . -
l1ftssn Ysailrsl q ~
According to ID. Curtis writing
70 the Chicago Record Herald from
ndinavia, Ibaen s supposed IS be ]
. rich man, although he IS aid Is be ]
very penurious and. never ributes
money to any cause. He receives 4
large income from his plays and saves
the most Of it. His only extraya-
gance is pictures. He has . fine taste !
for art, and has one Of the best private II,
collections Of paintings. ii Norway.
In his early school days he. took sew
eral prizes for drawing, and his boyish
ambition was to be . painter, but his
family could not afford to pay for in
struction. He had q desperate strug--.
gle to sustain himself during the first
half Of his life. -: q. ~ 4
His father was formerly merchant
Of great wealth at the city Of Skien, in
southern Norway, but failed disas-
trously and died, leaving q large fam
lily entirely destitute. Henrik was
compelled to earn his own livingfrom
childhood, and was never able to en-
Joy the sports and pleasures of other
children. He has said of.himself that
he 'was never child,'"' and his whole
career as we'll as his disposition has
been clouded and soured by his early
poverty and privations. His natural
literary abilities asserted themselves
in childhood. His first poems were
written at the age Of II, and at Is,
while he was a clerk in village drug
store and studying medicine, he wrote
his first drama, entitled catalina"
which was published over the nom de
plume of Brynjolf Bjerne. Although
it attracted general attention, it was
not approved by the public. Prof.
Monrad, of the Royal university, one
of the foremost critics of Norway, saw
merit in the work Of the unknown new
author, and wrote review, in which
he predicted that the pen which
framed those lines would some time
be famous. He encouraged him to
write again and again and to develop
what he perceived. to be genius.
This single friendly encourage
ment from stranger seems to have
been the turning point of Ibsen's ca
reer, for he continued his literary
work under his nom de plume with
greater success and popularity. At
the same time he continuedhi med
ical studies and at the age Of 20 ap-
peared in Christians for the first
time in his life to take his preliminary
examinations at the university. He
failed to passin Greek and mathemat-
les, and was SO mortified that he aban-
doned his plan Of becoming q physi-
clan, and for several years lived pre-
carious life in the garrets Of the Nor
~egian capital, writing for the news
papers and magazines and composing
plays which attracted no attention,
but he finally IN having one
Of them accepted ata thsats1in Be1.
gen, where he lived six Year, and
made 5hs first reputation under lis
true name. He became the director
of the Bergen theater. At the same
time that his rival, Bjornson, was d.
rector Of the National; theater at
Christiania- ,.~:.t> T.:
| In 1864 Ibsen succeeded in secur-
ing from the governments pension of
100 kroner year, about $500 in our
money, upon which he went to Ger
many, France and Italy to study, and
did not return to his native country
until in 1888, after he became famous.
His merit was first recognized in Dem
mark. A Danish publisher took the
risk and responsibility of printing.
books which Norwegian publishers
had rejected; the managers OF the
Danish theaters brought out plays
which the Norwegian theaters had de-
clined to produce, and the Danish
public applauded the satire and sen
timent which the Norwegian public
had ignored. It is an interesting il
lustration Of loyalty and gratitude
that. 1bsen has always stuck to his