Gunnar Edvard Rode Heiberg (18 November 1857 – 22 February 1929) was a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
poet, playwright, journalist and theatre critic.
Personal life
He was born in
Christiania a son of judge Edvard Omsen Heiberg (1829–1884) and his wife Minna (Vilhelmine) Rode (8 June 1836 – 1917).
He was a brother of
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
,
Anton
Anton may refer to: People
*Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name
*Anton (surname)
Places
*Anton Municipality, Bulgaria
**Anton, Sofia Province, a village
*Antón District, Panama
**Antón, a town and capital of th ...
and
Inge Heiberg
Inge Valdemar Heiberg (11 October 1861 – 1 July 1920) was a Norwegian physician who served as director of medicine in Belgian Congo from 1911 to 1920.
He was born in Christiania as a son of judge Edvard Omsen Heiberg (1829–1884) and Minna Rod ...
, as well as an uncle of
Hans Heiberg
Hans Heiberg (28 January 1904 – 6 December 1978) was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, essayist, novelist, playwright, translator and theatre director.
Early and personal life
Heiberg was born in Kristiania as son of c ...
, first cousin of
Eivind Heiberg,
Gustav Adolf Lammers Heiberg Helge Rode
Helge Rode (Frederiksberg, 16 October 1870 – 23 March 1937) was a Danish writer and critic, and journalist for ''Politiken'', ''Berlingske Tidende'', and ''Illustreret Tidende''. He was a son of Margrethe Rode, the brother of politician Ove Ro ...
and
Kristofer Hansteen,
[ a first cousin once removed of ]Bernt Bernt is a Scandinavian variant of the German masculine given name Berend, which is the Low German form of Bernard (Bernhard). The name Bernhard means "strong bear" (from Old German ''bero'', "bear", and ''harti'', "strong"). Its use in Sweden was ...
, Axel and Edvard Heiberg Edvard Heiberg (11 June 1911, in Oslo – 10 June 2000, in Oslo) was a Norwegian director and engineer.
Heiberg was the youngest son of barrister Axel Heiberg (1875–1952) and his wife Ragnhild Krohg (1879–1947). He had two brothers, ...
[ and a second cousin of ]Jean Heiberg
Jean Hjalmar Dahl Heiberg (19 December 1884 – 27 May 1976) was a Norwegian painter, sculptor, designer and art professor.
Personal life
Heiberg was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Hjalmar Heiberg (1837–97) and Jea ...
.[
He was married to actress Didrikke Tollefsen (1863–1915), whom he met in ]Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, between 1 April 1885 and 1896. On 15 April 1911 he married Birgit Friis Stoltz Blehr (1880–1933). Through his second wife's sister he was a brother-in-law of Sigurd Bødtker
Sigurd Bødtker (2 February 1866 – 6 March 1928) was a Norwegian theatre critic.
Personal life
He was born in Trondheim, Trondhjem as a son of physician Fredrik Waldemar Bødtker (1824-1901) and Sophie Jenssen (1830-1898). He was the brother of ...
.[
]
Career
Heiberg finished
Finished may refer to:
* ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard
* ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film
* "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp
See also
*Finishing (disa ...
his secondary education in 1874, and enrolled in law studies. Having befriended Gerhard Gran
Gerhard von der Lippe Gran (9 December 1856 – 7 April 1925) was a Norwegian literary historian, professor, magazine editor, essayist and biographer.
Personal life
Gran was born in Bergen as the son of merchant Christen Knagenhjelm Gran (1822 ...
, he came under the influence of Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, Georg Brandes
Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...
and Johan Sverdrup
Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...
. He became a cultural radical, and made his debut as a poet in 1878. In the autumn that year he spent time in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, together with Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
and Jens Peter Jacobsen
Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish novelist, poet, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was a part of the Modern Bre ...
. His first play ''Tante Ulrikke'' was written from 1877, finally printed in 1884, but not staged until 1901. His first play to reach the stage was ''Kong Midas'', premiéring in Copenhagen's Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...
in 1890.[
From 1880 to 1882 he worked as a journalist in '']Dagbladet
''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...
''. He was subsequently a journalist in ''Verdens Gang
''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
'' from 1896 to 1903, and Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
correspondent for that newspaper from 1897 to 1901 (during the Dreyfus case
The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
, among others). He was also a theatre critic
Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera.
Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas the ...
. From 1884 to 1888, he was the artistic director of the theatre Den Nationale Scene
Den Nationale Scene ( en, National Theater) is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway.
History
Opened under the name '' Det Norske Theater'' in 1850, the theatre has root ...
in Bergen. He resigned when the theatre director and board refused to stage Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...
's play ''Kongen''.[ His best-known plays are ''Balkonen'' (The Balcony, 1894) and ''Kjærlighedens Tragedie'' (The Tragedy of Love, 1904).
]
Anti-Swedish sentiments
Heiberg was hostile to Oscar II
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...
, King in the personal union between Sweden and Norway. In 1896 he wrote the book ''Hs. Majestæt'', originally published as a series of articles in ''Verdens Gang''. The book was highly critical towards Oscar II, stemming from a news story that the King, when processioning in Støren
is the administrative centre of Midtre Gauldal municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located in the Gauldalen valley at the confluence of the rivers Gaula and ''Sokna''. Støren is located on the European route E06 highway ...
, had personally knocked the hat off a farmer's head. When the book was printed, the publishing company Olaf Norlis Forlag did not dare to put its name on the cover page. Not long after, the publishing house was threatened with legal steps. Nearly all of the 1,100 copies were annihilated in self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...
.
In 1905 Heiberg stood forward as an agitator for the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden
The dissolution of the union ( nb, unionsoppløsningen; nn, unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; sv, unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolu ...
. At the 16 January 1905 première of ''Kjærlighedens Tragedie'' Heiberg held a speech against the union, stating that a peaceful continuation of the present conditions between Sweden and Norway was impossible. Heiberg was adamant that the only acceptable solution would be a free and independent Norwegian state, and that no compromise could be made in that regard. Present at the event was the former (1900–1902) Liberal Party of Norway
The Liberal Party ( no, Venstre, lit=Left, V; se, Gurutbellodat) is a centrist political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and it is the oldest political party in Norway. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and it is ...
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...
Georg Stang
Hans Georg Jacob Stang (17 February 1858 – 11 September 1907) was a Norwegian military officer and politician from the Liberal Party. He served as the Norwegian Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet o ...
, whom Heiberg greatly admired for his work on the construction of many of the defensive fortifications along the Norwegian–Swedish border. After the completion of his speech Heiberg walked across the room to where Colonel Stang was seated, toasted
Toast most commonly refers to:
* Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat
* Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken
Toast may also refer to:
Places
* Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States
Books
* Toas ...
him, put his arm around Stang's neck and exclaimed: "I love you". The dissolution went through, but Heiberg also opposed the Karlstad Treaty, the conditions of which he found "humiliating". One of Heiberg's main points of contention with the Karlstad Treaty was the Norwegian acceptance to dismantle the border fortifications, writing in ''Dagbladet'' 13 September 1905 that "an honourable war is far less dank and sickening than a dishonourable peace".[ no, En hederlig krig er adskillig mindre lummer og pestbringende enn en uhederlig fred. Norland 2004: 230] Also, as a republican he did not want a new monarchy to ascend the throne;[ this happened following the ]Norwegian monarchy plebiscite, 1905
A referendum on retaining the monarchy or becoming a republic was held in Norway on 12 and 13 November 1905.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1437 Voters were asked whether they approved of the Stor ...
. Collected speeches about all these topics were published in 1923 under the title ''1905''. In 1912 Heiberg attacked Christian Michelsen
Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857 – 29 June 1925), better known as Christian Michelsen, was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway and Norway's 9th prime minis ...
,[ a republican who worked to dissolve the union but advocated monarchy,] in the play ''Jeg vil værge mit land''.[ (''I will/want to defend my country'')
From 1923 he received a writer's grant from the state. He died in November 1929 in Oslo, and is buried at ]Vestre gravlund
Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kre ...
.[
]
References and notes
;References
;Notes
External links
Family genealogy
Digitized books by Heiberg
in the National Library of Norway
The National Library of Norway ( no, Nasjonalbiblioteket) was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened i ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiberg, Gunnar
1857 births
1929 deaths
19th-century Norwegian poets
Norwegian male poets
Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
Norwegian journalists
Norwegian republicans
Norwegian newspaper reporters and correspondents
Norwegian expatriates in Italy
Norwegian expatriates in France
Norwegian theatre critics
Writers from Oslo
Burials at Vestre gravlund
Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Norwegian male writers