Mikkjel Fønhus (14 March 1894 – 28 October 1973) was a Norwegian journalist,

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

ist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer. Fønhus' stories are often set in the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

, featuring animals and animal behaviour.

Personal life

Mikkel Arnesen Fønhus was born on the Nordre Fønhus farm in the Valdres Valley in

Sør-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ba ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

, Norway to the merchant Arne Mikkelsen Fønhus (1860–1896) and Olava Olsdatter Storsveen (1867–1948). After six years of primary school, he attended four years of middle school in Aurdalsbyen and three years of secondary school in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. He also started studying law at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. His marriage to the teacher Helga Karlsgot in 1926 ended in divorce, and he then married Margrethe Frøshaug in 1934.

Career

Fønhus made his literary debut with the novel '' Skoggangsmand'' in 1917, a story about an outlaw. His breakthrough came with the next book, '' Der Vildmarken suser'' (1919), inspired by

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

's ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is an adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. ...

''. His next books were '' Det skriker fra Kverrvilljuvet'' (1920) and '' Troll-Elgen'' (1921). These three books were all set in the wilderness, featuring animals and animal behavior. In 1922 he published a novel from

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

, ''Under polarlyset''. The stories of Fønhus also made frequent references to folk tales. Among his many qualities as a writer was his ability to develop the oral storytelling tradition. An example is the story "Ropet fra Helvetesjuvet" in the collection ''Raudalsdansen'' from 1924. In 1926 he wrote the novel ''Reinsbukken på Jotunfjell'', in 1927 the collection ''Vandringen mot nord'', and in 1929 ''Skogenes eventyrer'', stories about a fox. He wrote stories about animals such as

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

. He wrote about birds such as

goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

and

eagle owl The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for owl. This genus contains 10 species that are found in many pa ...

. Fønhus concentrated in about writing about life in nature itself. His books sold well and with the growing ecology movement, Mikkjel Fønhus appeared as a pioneer in the fight for preserving nature. He published 43 books on these themes during his life. Another 34 were published after his death. He work has been translated into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, French, English, Dutch, Czech and Polish. There is an exhibit of his work at Bagn Bygdesamling, a small museum located in Sør-Aurdal, Norway.

Awards

Gyldendal's Endowment The Gyldendal Prize, formerly Gyldendal's Endowment, is a Norwegian literary prize awarded by the Norway, Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Gyldendal's Endowment was awarded from 1934 to 1995. It was superseded by the Gyldendal Prize in ...

1952 *

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

, 1963 * Kloster-medaljen, 1963 *

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

, 1965 * Språklig samlings litteraturpris, 1966

References

Other sources

*Brandrud, Rolf ''Drømmejegeren - en biografi om Mikkjel Fønhus'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1993) *Stensrud, Gudbjørg Fønhus ''Mikkjel, far min'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1985) *Brenne, Tom ''Mikkjel Fønhus: En bibliografi'' (Universitetsbiblioteket. Oslo: 1993) *Børte, Torbjørn ''Mikkjel Fønhus: --fra Nissebakken til Thika River'' (Aschehoug forlag, Oslo: 1972)

External links

Website for Mikkjel Fønhus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foenhus, Mikkjel 1894 births 1973 deaths People from Sør-Aurdal Norwegian male writers