Ten Famous Norwegians

1. Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) created beautiful music to match both Norwegian sceneries which inspired him and the stories he used. Peer Gynt (originally a play by Henrik Ibsen) is his most famous suite (Morning Mood, The Death of Ase, In the Hall of the Mountain King...). A native of Bergen, Grieg debuted as a concert pianist and knew both Liszt and Tchaikovski. He composed more than 250 works during his lifetime and was appointed Music Director of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907)

2. Christian Krohg (1852 - 1925) was a writer, journalist and painter born in Christiana (now Oslo). He founded the art journal Impressionisten in 1886, the year of the publication of Albertine, his novel about a seamstress forced into prostitution in Oslo. Following the confiscation of the book, public prostitution was abolished in Norway. He married artist Oda Krohg and together they moved to Berlin in the 1890. There they socialised with fellow artists August Strindberg, Frida Uhl, Edvard Munch, Stanislaw Przybyszewski, Holger Drachmann, Axel Maurer...in a tavern Strinberg had nicknamed The Black Piglet (Zum schwarzen Ferkel). Located of Unter den Linden and Wilhelmstr., the tavern was destroyed during WWII. The Krohgs moved to Paris afterwards, before coming back to Norway. 

Christian Krohg (1852 - 1925)

3. Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906) Born in a wealthy family of Skien, he faced adversity in his youth when his father encountered financial difficulties. Unable to finish his studies, he worked as a pharmacist's apprentice. He then moved to Oslo where he published his first works, which didn't bring him the success he was hoping for. He then work in Bergen at Det norske Theater (now Den Nationale Scene), one of the oldest theatre in Norway. He left Norway for Italy in 1864, and spent 27 years abroad. In 1865, his play Brand was critically acclaimed, as would afterwards The Doll's House, An Enemy of the People and Peer Gynt. His son Sigurd Ibsen became Prime Minister of Norway.

Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906)

4. Tarjei Vesaas (1897 - 1970) is the author of The Ice Palace, the story of two girls in rural Norway who share a secret that will lead to tragedy. Vesaas also wrote The Birds, a novel from the point of view of a mentally ill character. Both have been translated into English. He married poet and writer Halldis Moren Vesaas.

Tarjei Vesaas (1897 - 1970)

5. Fernanda Nissen (1862 - 1920) was a journalist, teacher, literary critic and feminist. She participated to political debates from the 1880 onwards, and signed in 1885 a manifesto to form an association for women in Norway. A member of the Norwegian Labor Party, she was one of the first women elected at the Christiana Workers Society. She worked towards the improvement of living conditions of poor people and participated to a number of social reforms, primarily those concerning access to education and improvement of the status of women. She was the sister-in-law of painter Erik Werenskiold. 

Fernanda Nissen (1862 - 1920)

6. Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944) is probably the most famous Norwegian thanks to his painting The Scream. While the latter is definitely the height of his works, hundreds of other paintings of his are showing the man's genius and ability to pass from one painting style to another throughout his career. But no need for a short introduction, I will come back to his work later...

Edvard Munch - Autoportrait, 1866, National Gallery, Oslo

7. Erik Werenskloid (1855 - 1938) was a painter and illustrator mostly known for his drawings of norwegian landscaped and portraits. He illustrated the icelandic saga Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson, and painted portraits of Edvard Grieg, Henrik Ibsen, Gunnar Heiberg, Bjornstjerne Bjornson and Knut Hamsun amongst others.

8. Sigrid Undset (1882 - 1947) was awarded the Nobel Prize of Litterature in 1928 "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages". She was the third woman to be awarded this prize, after Selma Lagerlöf (1909) and Grazia Deledda (1926), and the third Norwegian after Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1903) and Knut Hamsun (1920). Her most famous novel is the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, a series of historical novels set in the Middle Ages, in which she describes the life of the main character in 14th century Norway.

Sigrid Undset in 1920 ©Alvilde Trop

9. Amalie Skram (1846 - 1905) was an author and feminist, member of the Modern Breakthrough, a movement of naturalism that took place in Scandinavian literatury circles in the late 19th century. After her family's bankrupcy she was forced into an unhappy marriage and spent several years in psychiatric institutions, before remarrying in 1884 with Danish writer Erik Skram. Her life experiences led her to write about the condition of married women and female sexuality.

Amalie Skram (1846 - 1905)

10. Max Manus (1914 - 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during WWII. Born in Bergen, he volunteered fought in the Soviet-Finnish Winter War in 1939-1940. He came back to Norway on April 9th, 1940, the day Operation Weserübung (the invasion of Norway by Germany) begun. He joined the resistance forces, and was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941. He escaped and trained in England, Scotland and Canada. He specialised in sabotage and tried to assassinate Himmler and Goebbels when they visited Oslo. After the war, he became an entrepreneur and in a bid for reconciliation hired people who had collaborated with Nazis in his company. He married one of his fellow resistance fighters, Tikken Lindebraekke, and died in Spain in 1996. A biopic was released in 2008.

Max Manus (1914 - 1996)