Hjalmar Christensen


Hjalmar Christensen was a Norwegian writer and a prominent literary critic.

Biography

Christensen was born at Sunnfjord in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. He was raised on a farm in the community of Førde. He was the son of Michael Sundt Tuchsen Christensen and Frederikke Sophie Elster. His brother Ingolf Elster Christensen served as agovernment offi cal a member of the Storting.
He attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied law and received a legal degree at the Royal Frederick University in 1892. From 1893 to 1898 Christensen was an instructor at the Christiania Theater and lectured for several years at the Bergen Museum. In 1898 the post as professor of literary history at the Royal Frederick University had become vacant. Christensen applied for the post which went to Gerhard Gran. He subsequently studied classical philology and history and in 1902 was awarded his Dr. philos.
Christensen wrote a number of articles in magazines, weeklies, and newspapers. He also wrote thirty-two books, many featuring communities in Sunnfjord. Christensen published a number of novels with cultural history content. His most noted book Fogedgården, Af en bygds historie featured a culture description of life in Førde.

Selected works