Christen Henriksen Pram (4 September 1756 – 28 November 1821) was a Norwegian/Danish economist, civil servant, poet, novelist, playwright, diarist and magazine editor. He is held as the first Norwegian novelist, although his writing was carried out in the

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schles ...

Personal life

Christen was born in Lesja, a son of Minister Henrik Frederik Pram and Olava Maria de Stockfleth. When he was eight years old, he moved with his family to Denmark, when his father assumed a position as vicar in Sjælland. He married Maria Magdalena Erichsen in 1782. He died on the island of Saint Thomas, in the Danish West Indies, in 1821.

Career

Pram was an enthusiastic member of the

Norwegian Society The Norwegian Society (''Norske Selskab'') was a literary society for Norwegian students in Copenhagen active from 1772 to 1813. Its members included authors, poets and philosophers. The Norwegian Society was formed in 1772 by Ove Gjerløw Meyer ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and assumed various positions in ''Commercekollegiet'' (the Copenhagen College of Commerce), where he was appointed in 1781. He made his literary breakthrough in 1782, with the poem "Emilias Kilde". His best known literary work is the epic cycle of poems ''Stærkodder'' of 1785, based on the legendary hero

Starkaðr ''Starkad'' ( non, Starkaðr or ; Latin: ''Starcaterus''; in the Late Middle Ages also ''Starkodder''; modern Danish: ''Stærkodder'')The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. was either an eight-armed giant or the human grandson of ...

from Saxo Grammaticus monumental work '' Gesta Danorum''. He co-founded and co-edited the cultural magazine ''Minerva'' from 1785, in cooperation with

Knud Lyne Rahbek Knud Lyne Rahbek (18 December 1760 – 22 April 1830) was a Denmark, Danish literary historian, critic, writer, poet and magazine editor. Biography Knud Lyne Rahbek was the son of clergyman . He had always wanted to become an actor. In his yout ...

. He was the sole editor of ''Minerva'' from 1789, but after having received warnings over his enthusiasm for the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, he resigned as editor in 1793. He is regarded as the first Norwegian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. Among his novels are ''Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse (Jørgen, the Biography of a fool)'' and ''Hans Kruuskop'' of 1786, and ''John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens Historie (John Thral. A Contribution to the History of Freedom)'' of 1787. He wrote the comedy ''Ægteskabsskolen (The School for Marriage)'' in 1795. In the same year he delivered a prize-winning contribution to the preparations for a university in Norway.

Bibliography

* ''Philippa til Erik'' (1779) * ''Emilias Kilde'' (1782) * ''Hymne til Vaaren'' (1784) * ''Stærkodder. Et Digt i femten Sange'' (1785) * ''Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse'', novel (1786) * ''Hans Kruuskop'', novel (1786) * ''John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens Historie'' (1787) * ''Om en Husmoders Pligter'' (1787) * ''Lagertha'' (1789), historic drama * ''Damon og Pythias'' (1790), historic drama * ''Frode og Fingal'' (1790), historic drama * ''Forsøg om Dragten, især for Danmark og Norge'' (1791) * ''Negeren'' (1791), drama * ''Ægteskabsskolen. Lystspil i fem Akter'' (1795), drama * ''Serenaden eller de sorte Næser'' (1795), drama * ''Forsøg om en Højskoles Anlæg i Norge'' (1795) * ''Undersøgelse om den kjøbenhavnske Waisenhusstiftelse'' (1796) * ''Brønden'' (1800), drama * ''Frokosten i Bellevue'' (1803), drama

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pram, Christen 1756 births 1821 deaths People from Lesja 18th-century Norwegian poets 18th-century Danish poets 18th-century Norwegian writers 19th-century Norwegian male writers Danish diarists Danish male novelists Danish male poets 19th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian male poets 18th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian diarists Norwegian male novelists 18th-century Danish novelists 19th-century Danish novelists 18th-century male writers