The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-04-27
The End Came After an Illness
Extending Over a
Year
POLITICAL REFORMER As WELL
As NOVELIST AND DRAMAT|sI
Sought . Greater Freedom for the Peo.
pie Of His Native Land, Both Po.
litically and Observation-Disclosures
Are Masterpieces in Thought.

"AAO' <ApIu ~. - bJOr09t1erne
B1ornsen. the Norwegian poet, novel;
ist and dramatist. reformer and ad-
vocate of universal peace, died here
last night. surrounded by his family.
HIS end was peaceful. He was 78
years old.
The last serious illness of the nov
elfst extended over nearly year. He
was brought to Paris in the early part
OF last November for special treat
ment.
Bjornstjerne Bjornsen. Norway's
most celebrated poet and author, was
born at Kvtkne, Osterdalen, Norway,
Dec. 8, 1882. Bjornsen's father de-
sired him to become a clergyman, and
would have made him scholar. But
though he was sent to the state gym
nasium at Molde, and afterward to
the university at Christiania. he was
not student. To the disappointment
Of his parents his university course
was soon abandoned, and the purpose
Of becoming a clergyman was, there
fore, abandoned also.
1t was soon after he left college
that he won his first success in liter
ature. He composed historic drama
that was accepted for presentation by
the directors of the royal theater at
Chrisitania. He had already, as a
boy and youth, stepped his mind in the
old Morse and Icelandic saga liter
ature, and had become familiar with
the histories, semi-mythical, semi
true, of all those Norwegian heroes
whose exploits he afterward made the
subjects Of his dramas. BY the time
he was "a years old he had become
quite leader among the young men
of the Norwegian capital. In the year
1856. by means Of series Of infiam-
matory, and deTisiye articles in the
newspapers, and by organising q
large band of faithful followers TO
assist him I'm carrying ON more
open method Of 5derfsive warfare, he
had been instrumental in largely driv-
ing from the Norwegian stage the
Danish actors whose presence. and
influence were an offense at once
against his aesthetic sense and his
patriotism.
His ideas, however, became greatly
broadened, even in his youth. He at
tended the Swedish university at Up
sala, and this was followed by year
of residence and study in Copenhagen.
Afterward, several times in his life,
he passed long residences abroad.
For two years, from 1867 to 1859,
Bjornsen was director Of the theater
at Bergen, and afterward he held the
same position at Christiania. But his
independence of character was too
great. his interest in stirring current
questions was always too keen for
him to hold even a semi-of1icial post
for any considerable length of time.
Though known abroad as delightful
novelist and poet, be was known bet
ter in Scandinavia as political re-
former. A republican of republicans.
he spent years in lodging jails and
writing problem books. Years ago
he was given Jail sentence for trea-
son, but got out of Norway and lived
in Germany until 1882. On his return
to Christiania he at once resumed his
anti-government agitation and lis
novel writing. He wrote tragedies,
too, and won a wide fame as writer
and describer of Norwegian life.
Bjornsen's first real literary sue
cess was, perhaps. his greatest and
most abiding one. This was his
"Synnove Solbakken" (Synnove SUM-
ny HilD, which was published in a
weekly periodical in 1857. 1t has
been translated into almost every
language of Europe. 1t is a simple,
unpretending tale of peasant life, dis
tinctly Norwegian in coloring, tone
and sentiment. Its language is the
language of the peasantry which
Bjornsen refined and quickened and
made his own. and which, thus quick
ened and refined, by the popularity
and influence of his writing he made
the language of the whole Norwegian
people. Other tales Of his scarcely
less popular, equally strong and SIM
pie and equally Enthusiastically
Norwegian are "Arne" (185S), a tale
of country life; "a Merry Lad" (1S60),
an exquisite tale of country boy
who is in love with country girl;
"The Fisher Maiden" Q868). tale
of a fisherwoman's daughter who
wished to become an actress and be-
came one; and "The Bridal March"
(1S7O, a collection of short stories.
In 1883 appeared "The Heritage of
the Kurts," Bjornsen's greatest novel
and the most vigorous work of fiction
vet produced in modern Scandinavian
literature; a prose epic, depicting the
fall, the degradation and the final
resurrection of a family for genera
tions cursed by an inherited tendency
to evil doing.
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