Hans Kristian Eriksen (2 April 1933 – 8 June 2014) was a Norwegian non-fiction writer, magazine editor, novelist and short story writer.

Personal life

Eriksen was born in Kiberg to fisherman Reidar Kristoffer Eriksen and Elida Helene Malin. He married Erna Stangnes in 1954.

Career

Eriksen worked as schoolteacher and principal on the island of Senja from 1954 to 1978, when he became a full-time writer and editor, from 1992 as a

government scholar Government scholar (Norwegian, ''statsstipendiat'') is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the State budget of Nor ...

. Among his early books are ''Der laks leker – og fugl flyr'' from 1970, ''Sangsvanedalen'' from 1971, ''Gamle Tranøy'' from 1972, and ''Vandrere i grenseland'' from 1973. He wrote several historical books on the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including ''Partisaner i Finnmark'' from 1969, ''Partisanenes død'' from 1972, and ''Barnet og krigen'' from 1983. He edited the annual ''Årbok for Senja'' from 1972 to 1992, and the magazine ''Nordnorsk Magasin'' from 1978 to 1999. He edited the three-volume series (1984–1989). He was elected to the

County council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

for the periods 1975–1979 and 1992–1995. He received the cultural prize from the

county municipality County municipality is a designation for an administrative territorial entity in Norway and in Canada. See also *County *Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-gov ...

of Troms in 1979, and the cultural prize from the city of

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

in 1980. In 1996 he was awarded the King's Medal of Merit in gold.

References

1933 births 2014 deaths People from Vardø People from Senja Norwegian schoolteachers Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian magazine editors Norwegian government scholars Troms politicians Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold {{norway-writer-stub