Who was Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson?
Q: Who was Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson?
A: Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian playwright, author and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.
Q: What is his family background?
A: His father was a Lutheran minister, but Bjørnson rejected organized religion. He married Karoline Reimers, a famous stage actress, and their son Bjørn also had great success as a stage actor, and appeared in a few early silent films. Their daughter Bergljot married Henrik Ibsen's son Sigurd.
Q: Where did he attend school?
A: He attended grammar school at Heltbergs Studentfabrikk in Oslo with Henrik Ibsen, but dropped out of a course at the University of Oslo. By his early twenties he was writing literature reviews for the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet.
Q: What is one of his most well-known works?
A: He is best known internationally for his tales of peasant life in Norway. His novel Synnöve Solbakken has been filmed three times.
Q: What other activities did he engage in besides writing?
A: Besides writing, Bjørnson also worked as a stage director and later served as editor of another paper Aftenbladet where he wrote fiery liberal editorials and passionately defended Alfred Dreyfus.
Q: What poem did he write that became the Norwegian national anthem?
A: He wrote the poem "Yes We Love This Land" which became the Norwegian national anthem.
Q: How did he die?
A: The cause of his death is unknown.
