Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun was married to Bergljot Göpfert (née Bech) from 1898 to 1906. He sired a daughter, Victoria, during this time.

He then married writer and actress, Marie Andersen, in 1909. They had four children Tore, Arild, Elinor, and Cecilia.

During World War II, he suffered two intracranial haemorrhages. By the age of 80, he was almost deaf.

Knut Hamsun was born on August 4, 1859, to Peder Pedersen and Tora Olsdatter, in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway. He was the fourth of seven children in this poverty-ridden family.

At the age of nine, he was sent to live with his uncle Hans Olsen. Hans abused his nephew by beating and starving him at times. This led to chronic nervous difficulties later in his life.

He escaped to Lom in 1874 and found odd jobs such as a shoemaker's apprentice, road worker, stonemason, peddler, store clerk, junior-level teacher, tram driver, and an assistant sheriff. During his initial struggle to become a writer, he continued to do odd jobs for 14 years in Norway and America to sustain himself.

His literary pursuit began at the age of 17 when he was a rope maker’s apprentice. A significant amount of financial assistance was provided by tradesman and island owner Erasmus Zahl. Hamsun would later use Zahl as the model for the character “Mack” who appears in his novels.

The many odd jobs he did were the subject of his first novel, ‘Den Gaadefulde: En Kjærlighedshistorie fra Nordland’ (The Enigmatic Man: A Love Story from Northern Norway), published in 1877.

His second novel, Bjørger (1878) was a melodramatic love story published under the pseudonym Knud Pedersen Hamsund. In this, he tried to emulate an Icelandic narrative influenced by the writing style of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

His travels in America were the basis of his publication, ‘Fra det moderne Amerikas Aandsliv’ (The Intellectual Life of Modern America), published in (1889).

He received critical acclaim with the novel ‘Hunger’ published in 1890. The novel was an account of his experiences as a starving writer. The mixture of emotions, seen through the protagonist’s eyes, gave a glimpse into the physical and mental state of his reality.

The earlier period of Knut Hamsun’s writings consisted of aggrieved, vagabond characters who oppose societal norms. This led to some great novels such as ‘Hunger’ (1890), ‘Mysteries’ (1892), ‘Pan’ (1894), and ‘Victoria’ (1898).

His middle period focussed on youth and their losses. This theme is explored in novels like ‘Under the Autumn Star’ (1906), ‘Benoni’ (1908), and ‘A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings’ (1909).

His later works were a criticism of civilization with writings such as ‘The Road Leads On’ (1933) and ‘The Ring is Closed’ (1936).

’Markens Grøde’ (1917), his Nobel Prize winning work, is the story of a man who works in harmony with nature and creates a farm out of wilderness.