Hans Wiers-Jenssen (25 November 1866 – 25 August 1925) was a Norwegian novelist, playwright, stage producer and theatre historian. Wiers-Jenssen was employed at the theatres

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christia ...

and

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 ...

Personal life

Wiers-Jenssen was born 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 o ...

as the son of colorist Johan Jenssen and his wife Elisa Magdalena Wiers. In 1894 he married Rigmor Nicolowna Danielsen, herself an author of humorous fiction. Together they had the son

Johan Henrik Wiers-Jenssen Johan Henrik "Johe" Wiers-Jenssen (30 April 1897 – 23 March 1951) was a Norwegian newspaper columnist and theatre director. Biography He was born in Kristiania as the son of novelist, playwright and stage producer Hans Wiers-Jenssen (1866� ...

, who was also to become a theater man and author of humorous prose.

Career

After his ''

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

'' at the Bergen Cathedral School in 1885, Wiers-Jenssen studied language and cultural history, graduating as

Cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of stud ...

in 1892. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper ''

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 newspa ...

'', and wrote the revue ''Tutti Frutti'', staged at Eldorado in 1893 where it became quite popular, with 101 performances. He was a stage instructor at the

from 1895, and also actor. From 1899 he worked as a secretary at

, and from 1900 to 1905 he worked for

in Bergen, both as actor, stage producer and literary consultant. He worked for Nationaltheatret from 1905 to 1909. He wrote the novel ''Presten paa Korshavn og hans hustru'' in 1907.

Playwright

As a playwright, Wiers-Jenssen is best known for his play '' Anne Pedersdotter'' from 1908, first staged by

Halfdan Christensen Halfdan Christensen (12 December 1873 – 17 September 1950) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography Christensen was born at Porsgrunn in Telemark, Norway. His family moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) where he attended Aar ...

on Nationaltheatret in 1908, with Johanne Dybwad playing the role character "Anne". It is based on Anne Pedersdotter, who was burned as a witch in

in 1590. The play was later performed on several Norwegian stages.

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

's, English translation became ''

The Witch A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to: Animals * Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish * Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...

''. Translations were made in other European and Asian countries. ''Anne Pedersdotter'' was also the basis for the Danish film ''

Day of Wrath ''Day of Wrath'' ( da, Vredens dag) is a 1943 Danish drama film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and starring Lisbeth Movin, Thorkild Roose and Preben Lerdorff Rye. It is an adaptation of the 1909 play '' Anne Pedersdotter'' by Hans Wiers-Jens ...

'' from 1943, and two adaptations for opera: ''La fiamma'' (libretto by Claudio Guastalla, music by Ottorino Respighi, 1934), and ''Anne Pedersdotter''; libretto by Hans Kristiansen, music by Edvard Fliflet Bræin from 1971. His comedy ''Jan Herwitz'' premiered at Nationaltheatret in 1913, and has later been very popular at the Bergen theatre

, with hundreds of performances over the years, visited by nearly 90,000 spectators. Wiers-Jenssen wrote books on the theatre history of Oslo and Bergen, covering the first 25 years of

, and also the first 25 years of

Selected works

*''Tutti-Frutti'' (revue, staged in 1893) *''Anne Pedersdotter'' (play, staged in 1908) *''Jan Herwitz. Gamle Bergensbilleder'' (comedy, first staged in 1913) * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiers-Jenssen, Hans 1866 births 1925 deaths 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Bergen People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Theatre people from Bergen