Arne Garborg - Bryne, Norway - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Arne Garborg (1851 - 1924)

Aadne Garborg was born 25 January 1851 and was the eldest son of a well kept farm in Time for Jæren. But he was not interested in taking over the farm. He would rather write. Already after he was confirmed he and some friends started to give out hand-written magazines in the community.

In 1867/68 Aadne got a job as a teacher in Riskakvervo. In the autumn of 1868 he entered the school (to become a teacher) in Holt at Tvedestrand and moved there. While he went there his father took his own life. This was an event as Arne blamed himself and that he was influenced by throughout his entire life. After school Aadne worked several years as a teacher. He started up a teacher-school magazine and the newspaper Tvedestrandsposten. His first book «Smaa-stubbers» he published under the pen name of Alf Buestreng in 1873. The same year he went to Christiania to "study or die."

In Kristiania Aadne came in direct contact with the country's intellectual and political environment. It was also where he came ti know Hulda. He wrote articles for newspapers all the time and had the reputation of being an editor topic. The student Garborg received in 1875 permits from the public to call himself by the name of Arne Garborg. At that time he learned new-norwegian by build out their own dialect with the help of the writings of Ivar Aasen. Together with Rasmus Steinsvik he eventually started the magazine Fedraheimen. In Christiania in 1881, he gave out his first book in its own name: «En Fritenkjar» (a freethinker). Several books followed. He took up the time in question, inflamed theme of community in what he wrote, both literary and through articles, and he became an important voice in his contemporary public debate. At the same time it seemed what he wrote about was frightening for those who ruled. In 1887 he lost his job as an auditor because of the novel «Mannfolk» (Men).

When he lost his job he moved to Kolbotn in Tynset, together with Hulda. Here they lived nine years, got married and had a son. Arne wrote several of his key works in Kolbotn. During these years he also became increasingly radical and sniffed on anarchism, among other things. Together with Rasmus Steinsvik he started the magazine «17de Mai» (17th May). Arne eventually became a kind of guru for younger writers from home and abroad, and some of them went up the mountain to visit him. He also associated and got in contact with several of the foremost artists. In winters, Arne and Hulda often went on long trips abroad.

Life at Kolbotn was hard, not just because it layed so far off the beaten track. Their son, Tuften, were enrolled at the school and in 1896 they moved. First to Stokke in Vestfold and so on to Labråten in Asker. But Arne missed Jæren. He bought a piece of land above Undheim on Jæren and buildt a poet-cottage here. Here he went several summers to write. In 1898 he received regular annual income in the form of salary from the state.

The final 20 years of his life, the writer Arne laid down fiction and focused more and more on newspaper articles and article- and journal writing. He began more and more involved in the thinking of the american Henry George, about the earth and spent time on translating classical literature: Goethe, Holberg, Moliere, Shakespeare, Rama-poem and Homer. At the same time he pondered over religious issues.

Arne Garborg stood high in people's awareness of contemporary. When he was 70 years, he received a gift of about 100 000 kroner from the Norwegian people - money he used to support poor young colleagues.

January 15th 1924 he died after having been ill for some time. He was cremated and was buried at Trinity Church in Oslo for the State's expense. Hulda wrote: "70 wreaths was laid on with warm and good words and 400 letters and telegrams came to me." In June the same year his ashes were moved and buried in the garden outside Knudaheio.

Source: Tor Obrestad's biographies Arne Garborg: a biography (1991) and Hulda (1992)

(www.garborg.no)

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