Christen Pram
Christians Pram, Christian Henriksen Pram, ( born September 4, 1756 in Lesya, † November 28, 1821 in Saint Thomas ) was a Norwegian poet.
His parents were the chaplain and later priest Henrik Frederik Pram (1726-1800) and his wife Maria de Olava Stockfleth (1738-1815), a clergyman's daughter from Fåberg. On May 24, 1782, he married Maria Magdalena Erichsen (30 July 1754-30. September 1819 ), daughter of John Godfrey Staatsphysikus Erichsen ( 1713-1768 ) and his wife Anna Thode ( 1728-1766 ). The marriage was unhappy with violence, and the couple lived zeitwrilig separately.
Pram Christians lived most of his life in Denmark, but was a Norwegian patriot. He was the first Norwegian novelist.
As a pram was eight years old, his father was a pastor in Slagslunde on Zealand. The home became a center for the care of the Norwegian. There he met the poet Edvard Storm, Peder Kofod Ancher the lawyers and the historian Peter Frederik Suhm know. These encounters gave him access to the upper class of society Copenhagen and were of great importance for his later works. There he met Ernst Heinrich of mold man to know who opened the door for him to civil service career. He was also a member of " Norwegian Society " (Norwegian company) in Copenhagen.
1772 consisted pram after his lessons at home, the " examination of arts " and began studying. Because of the need to earn a living, he chose the law, not heard enough lectures and but did not complete the study. He visited many different lectures, reading classic literature and learned modern languages. In particular, he was concerned with statistics and economics. In 1781 he got a job with the business college and worked for most of his working life in various positions. He was a supporter of enlightened absolutism. In 1802 he was Justice and Privy Councillor in 1812. 1816, the college was merged with economy " Vestindisk - guineiske pension -og Generaltoldkammer ", and he got his discharge.
1782 to 1787 he edited the newspaper trade Efterretninger om trade, Skibsfart, factory -og Manufacturvæsen.
Pram unfolded early in his poetic skills. He tried with varying success in different areas. In 1779 he won an award for his Héroïde " Philippa til Erik ". The descriptive nature poem " Emilia kilde " from 1782 fortified his reputation. Then came his most famous poem "Star Kather " in 15 songs, which is based on a substance from the Gesta of Saxo Grammaticus Danorum. From the poetry ago the 7000 verses are referred to as dry and unpoetic, but it aroused general attention to Sweden because it was considered a witness to the Old Norse Renaissance. In the poem he makes Star Kather to a Norwegian. But from the Old Norse spirit is to be felt, but it is an allegorical framework for all sorts of moral-philosophical considerations. He wrote a number of mediocre plays that could not keep up at the theater. The best was yet Ægteskabsskolen ( School of marriage; 1795) with 15 performances.
Knud Lyne Rahbek Together with he gave in 1785 the cultural journal Minerva out. 1790 to 1793 he edited them alone. In Minerva, he had a fixed foreign policy column and won many readers by its well-written short stories. 1796-1804 and 1818-1819 he was Borgervennen (citizen friend) out.
Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse and Hans Kruuskop (both 1786) were the highlight of his literary work. Both works negotiated by the struggle of young men against a hostile environment against bullying and loss of freedom. They are characterized by a skeptical view of the people, sharp irony and social criticism. Jørgen is in the tradition of Voltaire. John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens history of 1787 has an English protagonist and gives a panoramic view of the European countries on the eve of the French Revolution. The novel ends with a roll call for land reform in Denmark, which supported Pram, where he had the situation in Norway as an ideal in mind. While his comedy Ægteskabsskolen was only a short success, his short stories have a special place in Norwegian literary history, as it is the first stories of a Norwegian in the Norwegian language. Pram felt mainly as Norwegians.
1795 Pram won a prize for the best program for a Norwegian University: Forsøg om en Højskoles Anlæg i Norge. 1804 to 1806 he undertook two long business trips to Norway. His reports to the College in Copenhagen (in 10 volumes) include many cultural and economic information. He had little sense of the wild nature of Norway, but even more to the cultural landscape. His favorite scenery was Trøndelag.
In 1814 he was co-founder of " Nordmandsforeningen " in Copenhagen. In the same year he presented himself for the new state Norway available. But he was not even an answer to his offer. To supplement its scarce economic conditions, he traveled in 1819 as a customs administrator to the Danish island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean. He could not stand the climate and died there in 1821.
Works (selection)
- Philippa til Erik. A Héroïde. 1779
- Emilia Kilde. 1782
- Hymne til Vaaren. 1784
- Stærkodder. Et Buried i femten Sange. 1785
- Jørgen, en Dosmers Levnedsbeskrivelse. 1786
- Hans Kruuskop. 1786
- Om en Husmoders Pligter. 1787 ( prize )
- John Thral. Bidrag til Frihedens history. 1787
- Frode og Fingal, skuespill. 1790
- Forsøg om Dragten, især for Danmark og Norge. 1791 ( prize )
- Lagertha. Et dramatisk Forsøg. 1790 ( Ballet 1801)
- Ægteskabsskolen. Lystspil i fem Akter. 1795
- Forsøg om en Højskoles Anlæg i Norge. 1795 ( prize )
- Editor of Minerva, 1785-1789, 1790-1793
Notes and References
The article is mainly based on Norsk biografisk leksikon. Any other information is reported separately.