:Alexander Kielland
{{short description|Norwegian writer}}
{{about|the Norwegian writer|the oil platform|Alexander L. Kielland (platform)}}
{{Use dmy dates | date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Alexander L. Kielland
| image = Alexander Kielland by Emil Hohlenberg (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Kielland in later years
| birth_name = Alexander Lange Kielland
| birth_date = {{birth date|1849|2|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Stavanger, Norway
| death_date = {{death date and age|1906|4|6|1849|2|18|df=y}}
| death_place = Bergen, Norway
| occupation = Novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, businessman, and politician.
| movement = Realism
}}
Alexander Lange Kielland ({{IPA|no|ɑɫɛˈksɑ̀ndər ˈlɑ̂ŋːə ˈçɛ̀lːɑn|lang}}; 18 February 1849 – 6 April 1906) was a Norwegian realistic writer of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called "The Four Greats" of Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Jonas Lie.
Background
Born in Stavanger, Norway, he grew up in a rich merchant family. He was the son of consul Jens Zetlitz Kielland and great-grandson of Gabriel Schanche Kielland (1760–1821). Kielland was the younger brother of Norwegian landscape painter Kitty Lange Kielland.[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kielland/slekt/per00049.htm Alexander Lange Kielland (Ancestry.com)]{{Cite web |url=http://www.artsmia.org/mirror-of-nature/the-artists.cfm?lng=0&artist=kielland |title=Lange Kielland (A Mirror Of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840–1910. Minneapolis Institute of Arts) |access-date=2008-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020003/http://artsmia.org/mirror-of-nature/the-artists.cfm?lng=0 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=dead }}
His family also included his son, Jens Zetlitz Kielland, (1873–1926); uncle Jacob Otto Lange (1833–1902), cousin Axel Christian Zetlitz Kielland (1853–1924), nephew Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland (1866–1926), cousin Anders Lange (1904–1974) and great nephew Jacob Christie Kielland (1897–1972). His great niece Axeliane Christiane Zetlitz Kielland (1916–1995) married Agnar Mykle (1915–1994).
Career
Despite being born wealthy, he had a sincere affection for the less fortunate, treating his workers well when he was a factory owner.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} He remained a spokesman for the weak and a critic of society throughout his time as a writer. His best known plays were the satirical comedies Tre Par (1886) and Professoren (1888). He was also well known for his short stories.[http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Alexander_L_Kielland/utdypning Alexander L. Kielland, utdypning (Store norske leksikon)]
Among his most famous works are the novels Gift (1883), Skipper Worse (1882) and Garman & Worse (1880). Gift (published in English as Poison ) is the first of a trilogy including Fortuna (1884) and St. Hans Fest (1887). In this trilogy, Kielland satirizes the hypocrisy of Norway's clergy. In Gift, Kielland debates the preference for Latin that Norwegian teachers had during his time. The story features a young boy called Marius, lying on his deathbed while repeating Latin grammar.[http://www.snl.no/Alexander_L._Kielland-ulykken Alexander L. Kielland-ulykken (Store norske leksikon)]
From 1889 to 1890, Kielland worked as a journalist for the newspaper Stavanger Avis. Kielland virtually stopped writing fiction in 1891 and published only stories which had been published earlier. In 1891 he was designated the mayor of Stavanger Municipality (his hometown), until 1902 when he relocated to Molde as county governor of Møre og Romsdal county.[http://www.snl.no/Alexander_Lange_Kielland Alexander Lange Kielland (Edvard Beyer / Morten Moi. Store norske leksikon)]
It has been debated why Kielland ended his career as a writer so early. Some believe that he was so much of a realist that he could not deal with the neo-romantic tendencies of Norwegian literature at the end of the 19th century. A more probable reason is that he chose to focus on his political career.
The biography of Alexander L. Kielland by Tor Obrestad includes thoughts about Kielland dying from obesity. Already from the mid-1880s, Kielland had suffered from shortness of breath. He had several heart attacks, constantly gained weight, and couldn't control his great passion for food.{{cite web|url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kiella.htm |title=Alexander Kielland |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=Kuusankoski Public Library |location=Finland |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725062250/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kiella.htm |archivedate=25 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}
Publications
=Short stories=
- Novelletter, 1879
- Nye novelletter, 1880
- To Novelletter fra Danmark, 1882
- A Dinner, 1896 (as a part of Norse Tales and Sketches)
=Novels=
- Garman & Worse, 1880Garman and Worse is available on WikisourceGarman & Worse is available in the original Norwegian on Project Runeberg at [https://runeberg.org/skipwors/ Garman og Worse {{in lang|no}}]
- Arbeidsfolk, 1881
- Else, 1881
- Skipper Worse, 1882.Skipper Worse was published in English translation in 1885 and later as one of the Harvard Classic collection. [https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9780893041113/skipper-worse.aspx A 2009 translation into English of Skipper Worse by Christopher Fauske is published by Cross-Cultural Communications, Merrick, NY].. Skipper Worse is also available in the original Norwegian on Project Runeberg at [https://runeberg.org/skipwors/ Skipper Worse ]
- Gift, 1883
- Fortuna, 1884
- Sne, 1886
- Sankt Hans Fest, 1887
- Jacob, 1891
=Plays=
- Paa Hjemvejen, 1878
- Hans Majestæts Foged, 1880
- Det hele er Ingenting, 1880
- Tre par, 1886
- Bettys Formynder, 1887
- Professoren, 1888
=Essays=
- Forsvarssagen, 1890
- Menneker og Dyr, 1891
- Omkring Napoleon, 1905English translation 1907: Napoleon's Men and Methods
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Gran, Gerhard von Lippe Alexander L. Kielland og hans samtid (P.T. Dreyer. 1992)
- Grøndahl, Carl Henrik and Nina Tjomsland (editors) The Literary Masters of Norway, with Samples of Their Works (Tanum-Norli. 1978)
- Hallgren, Bengt Skitt eller kanel: Omkring Alexander L. Kielland, aren 1878-1906 (Alba. 1987)
- Lunde, Johannes Liv og kunst i konflikt: Alexander L. Kielland 1883-1906 : fra Gift til Jacob; Omkring Napoleon (Gyldendal. 1975)
- Nag, Martin Omkring samfunnsrefseren Alexander L. Kielland: Essays (Kvekerforlaget. 1999)
- Obrestad, Tor To Par: Brevvekslingen Mellom Alexander L. Kielland Og Louise Og Viggo Drewsen (J.W. Cappelen. 1998)
- Risa, Einar O. Mannen i speilet: Alexander L. Kielland i Stavanger 1888-1902 : en nedtur (Tiden Norsk. 1999)
- Skadberg, Gunnar Alexander L. Kielland – «i slekt me hele byen» (Wigestrand, 2002 - [https://gunnarskadberg.net/alexander-l-kielland/ Open Access])
External links
{{wikisource author}}
{{Commons category|Alexander Kielland}}
- [http://www.nb.no/nbsok/search?action=search&lang=en&mediatype=bøker&format=Digitalt%20tilgjengelig&searchString=creator:%22kielland,alexander%22 Digitized books and manuscripts by Kielland] in the National Library of Norway
- {{gutenberg author|id=1776|name=Alexander Kielland}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alexander Lange Kielland}}
- {{Librivox author |id=763}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd7mBAFQhj4 An English audiobook of story by Alexander Kielland from historyradio.org on youtube]
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{{succession box |before=Ludvig Arnoldus Leth |title=County Governor of Møre og Romsdal |after=Birger Kildal |years=1902–1906}}
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Category:19th-century Norwegian novelists
Category:Norwegian male short story writers
Category:Norwegian newspaper editors
Category:County governors of Norway
Category:Writers from Stavanger
Category:19th-century Norwegian people
Category:19th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
Category:19th-century Norwegian short story writers
Category:19th-century essayists