Rolf G. Fjelde (March 15, 1926 – September 10, 2002) was an American

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 ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. Fjelde was the founding president of the Ibsen Society of America which is dedicated to promoting academic and public interest in the work of

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 ...

Background

Rolf G. Fjelde was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His father was the sculptor,

Paul Fjelde Paul Fjelde (August 12, 1892 – May 3, 1984) was a noted American sculptor and educator. Background Paul Fjelde was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Jacob Fjelde, who was a well-known sculptor in Norway when he emigrated ...

. His grandfather was the Norwegian-born sculptor

Jakob Fjelde Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde (10 April 1859 – 5 May 1896) was a Norwegians, Norwegian-born United States, American sculptor.Harris, Moira F., ''Monumental Minnesota: A Guide to Outdoor Sculpture'', Pogo Press, 1992, pg. 6 He is remembered as ...

(1859–1896), who had immigrated to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in 1887. His great-aunt was Minnesota needlework artist and weaver,

Pauline Fjelde Pauline Gerhardine Fjelde (May 1861 – December 23, 1923) was a Norwegian-born American painter, embroiderer, and textile artist. Background Pauline Gerhardine Fjelde was born in Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. She and her family immi ...

. Rolf Fjelde grew up in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. After receiving an M.F.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, he received fellowships to study in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Career

In 1954, Fjelde joined his father, a Professor of Art, on the faculty of

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in Brooklyn, accepting a position in the Humanities Department, where he was a Professor of Literature until his retirement in 1997. Rolf Fjelde won the Pratt Institute Distinguished Teacher Award for 1996. Rolf Fjelde published two volumes of poetry, in 1955 and 1962, and in 1965, published the first volume of his Ibsen translations. This began the translating career that culminated in ''Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays'' (1978) and ''Peer Gynt'' (1980). In 1991, the

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...

honored Rolf Fjelde for his translations by awarding him the St. Olav's Medal. Two years later, The

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

presented Rolf Fjelde with its Award in Literature. During 1978, the Ibsen Sesquecentennial Symposium celebrating the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Ibsen's birth, took place on the Brooklyn campus of Pratt Institute. This was the beginning of the Ibsen Society of America of which Rolf Fjelde was elected as founding President. He held the office for fifteen years. Rolf Fjelde also founded the publication, ''Ibsen News and Comment'', the newsletter and journal of The Ibsen Society of America, which has been published annually since 1980.

Selected works

Plays produced

*''One Simple Flower'' (1956) *''Port Harmony'' (1957) *''Switzerland'' (1967) *''The Rope Walk'' (1968) *''Rafferty One by One'' (1970) *''The Bernini Look'' (1981)

Books published

*''Washington'' (1955) *''The Imaged Word'' (1963) *''Ibsen: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (1965) *''Ibsen: Four Major Plays: Volume I'' (1965) *''Ibsen: Four Major Plays: Volume II'' (1970) *''Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays'' (1978)''Rolf Fjelde Biography'' (Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies)
/ref> *''Peer Gynt'' (1980)

References

External links

The Ibsen Society of America Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjelde, Rolf G. 1920s births 1995 deaths American people of Norwegian descent Writers from Brooklyn Yale University alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American male poets Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American poets 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers