Peter Egge (1 April 1869 – 15 July 1959) was a renowned
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 ...
author, journalist and
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 ...
. His writing career extended from 1891 until 1955.
Early life
Peter Egge was born in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
, Norway. He was the second eldest in a family of nine children born to a couple from
Nord-Trøndelag
Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...
. Summer holidays were often spent with relatives in the rural countryside. His writings would later commonly focus on Trondheim, and feature the rural customs of the traditional district of
Innherred
Innherred or Innherad is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Trøndelag county in the central part of Norway. It consists of the areas around the inner part of the Trondheimsfjord in the central-east part of the county. The district incl ...
where he spent his childhood and adolescence.
Career
Egge attended the
Trondheim Cathedral School
Trondheim Cathedral School ( no, Trondheim katedralskole, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway.
History
There is great dispute regarding ...
, from which he graduated in 1887. Egge made his literary debut with the novel ''Almue'' (1891). He later started his job as a journalist with the Trondheim-based newspaper ''
Dagsposten
''Dagsposten'' ("Daily Mail") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county.
History and profile
''Dagsposten'' was started on 2 October 1877 by Olai Olsen. He chose a connection with the liberal politician Johan Sve ...
''. In the following years he divided his time between journalism and authorship. He frequently wrote comedies, a genre in which he enjoyed success. This venture in comedy started with ''Faddergaven'' (The Christening Gift, 1897) and included several other works. Egge also wrote serious plays. His ''Kjærlighed og Venskab'' (Love and Friendships, 1904) is a fine example of his serious-themed writing. Egge continued this swaying both toward comedy and serious plays throughout his career. Some of the best works of this period of his career were ''Jomfru Nelly Maartens'' (Miss Nelly Maartens, 1897), ''Gammelholm'' (1899), and ''Hjertet'' (The Heart, 1907).
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Beginning in the early 1920s, Egge began to depart from the image of a writer of comedies and romantic tales. The ''Holy Sea'', which was published in 1922, marked his metamorphosis from a somewhat romantic writer into a neo-realistic one. His style became heavily descriptive. It was this shift in style that gradually led to ''Hansine Solstad'' (1925), which is regarded as his best work.
Personal life
In 1897, he married Anna Marie Svensen and settled in Christiania, now Oslo. He was the father of Norwegian politician and resistance member Ørnulf Egge
Ørnulf Egge (26 May 1910 – 31 July 1978) was a Norwegian politician for the Workers' Youth League and Communist Party and resistance member during World War II.
Early political career
He was born in Kristiania, and was a son of writer Peter E ...
.
Bibliography
* ''Almue'' (1891)
* ''Nordfra'' (1895)
* ''Faddergaven'' (1897)
* ''Trøndere'' (1898)
* ''Gammelholm'' (1899)
* ''Jakob og Kristoffer'' (1900)
* ''Sønnen'' (1901)
* ''Mainætter'' (1902)
* ''Familien paa Raaum'' (1903)
* ''De graa Haar'' (1904)
* ''Kjærlighed og Venskab'' (1904)
* ''Oddvar Hage og hans Venner'' (1905)
* ''En liten gutt'' (1906)
* ''Hjertet'' (1907)
* ''Lenken'' (1908)
* ''Pastor Hals'' (1909
* ''De unge dage'' (1913)
* ''Narren'' (1917)
* ''Den hellige sjø'' (1922)
* ''Jægtvig og hans gud'' (1923)
* ''Hansine Solstad'' (1925)
* ''Hos Vincent Øst'' (1926)
* ''Drømmen'' (1927)
* ''Han og hans døtre'' (1928)
* ''Indian Summer'' (1929)
* ''Woel, Cai M.'' (1929)
* ''Minner fra barndom og ungdom'' (1948)
Awards
* Gyldendal's Endowment Gyldendal's Endowment was a literature prize which was awarded in the period 1934–1995 by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The prize was awarded to significant authors, regardless of which publisher the author was associated wi ...
for 1935
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egge, Peter
1869 births
1959 deaths
Norwegian journalists
Norwegian male writers
Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
People from Trondheim