Johan Bojer

Johan Bojer (March 6, 1872--July 3, 1959) was a Norwegian author.

He was born Johan Kristoffer Hansen in Ørkedalsøren, Orkanger, Sør-Trøndelag, a community near Trondheim, and died in Gulbrandsdalen enroute from Rissa to his home near Oslo. The son of unmarried parents, he grew up as a foster child in a poor family living in Rissa, Sør-Trøndelag, learning early the realities of poverty. His early years were spent working on a farm and working as a bookkeeper.

His literary work began with the publication of Unge tanker in 1893 under the name Johan K. Hansson, and continued to gather strength through the 1920’s. After the death of his father in 1894, he took the name Bojer. Because of the range of topics he addressed, he was famous within Norway and internationally. Many of his works were published in English.

He was well known for his contributions to Norwegian emigration literature in "The Emigrants", a major novel dealing with the motivations and trials of Norwegians emigrating to the plains of North Dakota.

Perhaps his best work was "Den siste viking", which powerfully and realistically depicts the lives of the fishermen from Trondelag who fished in winter in the Lofoten islands.

Works

• Et folketog – A Procession (1896)
• Troens magt - The Power of a Lie (1903/English 1909)
• Fangen som sang (1913)
• Den store hunger – The Great Hunger (1916/English 1918)
• Den siste viking - The Last of the Vikings (1921/English 1923)
• Vor egen stamme -The Emigrants (1924/English 1925)
• Folk ved sjøen - The Everlasting Struggle (1929/English 1931)

External link

• Works by Johan Bojer at Project Gutenberg