Olav Ragnvaldsson Hoprekstad (4 April 1875 – 19 August 1965) was a Norwegian educator,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, theatre critic and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Personal life

Hoprekstad was born in Vik,

Nordre Bergenhus Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the co ...

as the son of farmer Ragnvald Olsen Hopperstad and Ragnhild Eriksdotter Hønsi. He was married to Signe Valebjørg from 1902. He died in Bergen in August 1965.

Career

Hoprekstad graduated from the teachers' college in Hamar in 1895. He worked as a teacher in Bergen from 1899. From 1927 he was headmaster at the primary school at

Møhlenpris Møhlenpris (formerly Vestre Sydnes) is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. It is next to the Puddefjorden in the borough of Bergenhus. The neighbourhood is named after Jørgen Thor Møhlen, who was a shipowner, slav ...

in Bergen, and later at the

Fridalen Fridalen is a neighborhood in the borough of Årstad in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The neighborhood lies at the foot of mount Ulriken, between the neighborhoods of Haukeland and Landås. The main attractions in Fridalen inclu ...

primary school. He was a theatre critic and literary critic for the newspaper '' Bergens Tidende'' from 1913 to 1940, and for ''

Gula Tidend ''Gula Tidend'' (meaning ''Gula Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper. It was established in 1904 by Johannes Lavik, and disestablished in 1996. During World War II in response to the censorship of the occupying forces the paper temporarily en ...

'' from 1949 to 1965. His play ''Bjørnefjell'', written in 1907, was among the opening repertoire at

Det Norske Teatret Det Norske Teatret ( en, Norwegian Theater)Moe, Jens. 2011. ''My America: The Culture of Giving''. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, p. 133. is a theatre in Oslo. The theatre was founded in 1912, after an initiative from Hulda Garborg and Edvard Drabl� ...

in 1913. His play ''Friarar'' was staged later in 1913, ''Eli Sjo'' in 1916, ''Bjørgedal'' in 1919, ''Straumen'' in 1922, ''Trollebotn'' in 1925, ''Veslelorden'' in 1931, and ''Berstein på Strondi'' in 1940. His plays have also been staged at Den Nationale Scene and at the Comedy theatre in Bergen. He was a board member of the teachers' union Norges Lærerlag from 1917 to 1946. During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was involved in the teachers' development of a strong attitude against nazification of schools. In 1946 he published the book ''Frå lærarstriden'', with events from the war period. He wrote books about the history of education in Bergen, and was principal editor of the three volumes ''Bygdabok for Vik i Sogn''. He was a proponent for

Nynorsk language Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

, and a board member of the society Noregs Mållag for many years. He was a board member of Det Norske Teatret from 1948 to 1963. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1963.

Selected works

*''Bjørnefjell'' (play, 1907) *''Frå lærarstriden'' (1946)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoprekstad, Olav 1875 births 1965 deaths People from Vik Writers from Bergen Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian theatre critics Norwegian literary critics Noregs Mållag Norwegian World War II memoirists Schoolteachers from Bergen