Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson (1832-1910), Norwegian writer, Nobel laureate, and political leader, born in Kvikne. His plays rank among the earliest and most important examples of native Norwegian dramatic literature.

Bjørnson wrote voluminously on the social, political, moral, and aesthetic questions of the time. He was influential in the creation of an indigenous Norwegian literature and a typically Norwegian school of writers, with roots in the early culture of Norway. Bjørnson's first novel, Sunny Hill (1857; trans. 1931), was a realistic treatment of peasant life. Among his numerous works are the dramatic trilogy Sigurd Slembe (1862; trans. 1888) and the plays Marie Stuart Skotland (1864; trans. 1912), The Bankrupt (1875; trans. 1914), and the two-part Beyond Our Power (1883-95; trans. 1893, 1914); the novel The Fisher Girl (1868; trans. 1871); and the cycle of epic poems Arnljot Gelline (1870; trans. 1917). In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Bjørnson was also a leader in the political struggle that led to the establishment of Norway as an independent country in 1905.