Image of Johan Bojer

Timeline

Lifetime: 1872 - 1959 Passed: ≈ 64 years ago

Title

Novelist, Dramatist

Country/Nationality

Norway
Wikipedia

Johan Bojer

Johan Bojer was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Bojer was born Johan Kristoffer Hansen in the village of Ørkedalsøren, now the town of Orkanger, Sør-Trøndelag county. The son of unmarried parents—Hans Christophersen Bojer and Johanna Iversdatter Elgaaen—he grew up as a foster child in a poor family living in Rissa near Trondheim, Norway. Bojer learned early the realities of poverty. His early years were spent working on a farm and working as a bookkeeper. After the death of his father in 1894, he took the surname Bojer.

His literary work began with the publication of Unge tanker in 1893, and continued to gather strength through the 1920s. Because of the range of topics he addressed, he won critical acclaim in Norway. He gained international fame after many of his works were published in foreign languages. Critics generally recognize his best work to be his novel, Den siste viking, (English title: The Last of the Vikings). This novel powerfully and realistically depicts the lives of fishermen from Trøndelag, who spend the winter fishing in the Lofoten island archipelago within the Arctic Circle near the far north coast of Norway.

Bojer is best remembered for The Emigrants, a major novel dealing with the motivations and trials of Norwegians emigrated on the plains of North Dakota. In 1923, Bojer journeyed to Litchville, North Dakota, to research the lives of the Norwegian immigrants who had settled there. The result of his visit became a novel originally published in Norway as Vor egen stamme.

Books by Johan Bojer

The Last of the Vikings Cover image

The Last of the Vikings

Adventure Action Novel
Marine War Storm Sea Tradition Explore Nautical Waves

In a small village on the coast of Northern Norway lives the Myran family. Father is a fisher man and is, in the eyes of the oldest son, like a god on the sea. Mother spends every winter in fear of losing somebody she loves to the storms and waves. S...

The Power of a Lie Cover image

The Power of a Lie

Fiction
Historical Fiction Deception Struggle Honesty Trust Human Nature Consequences Social Dynamics

This is a compelling literary work that explores the consequences of deceit and the far-reaching impact it can have on individuals and society. Published in 1903, this thought-provoking novel has stood the test of time, captivating readers with its t...