Knut Hamsun

Norwegian novelist (1859-1952) · Norway · Writers · Died at 92

Knut Hamsun is read about 869 times a day, in 107 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 18 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 393 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare

He invented the interior monologue and shaped everyone from Kafka to Hemingway, then handed his Nobel medal to Goebbels and met Hitler during the occupation of his own country.

Writers Writer / Author Literature Poetry Fiction Theatre Norway Europe

A life in dates

1952Died19 February 19521945“I am not worthy to speak loudly of Adolf Hitler, nor do his life and deeds call for sentimental arousal.”In their words7 May 1945An obituary for Adolf Hitler, Aftenposten (7 May 1945)Read the whole statement

1920Nobel Prize in LiteratureAward1898“And love became the world's origin and the world's ruler, yet littered its path is with flowers and blood, flowers and blood.”In their wordsVictoria (1898)Read the whole statement

1890“Nothing helped; I was fading helplessly away with open eyes, staring straight at the ceiling. Finally I stuck my forefinger in my mouth and took to sucking on it.”In their wordsHunger (1890), p. 110 (tr. Robert Bly)Read the whole statement

“Suddenly one or two good sentences occur to me, suitable for a sketch or story, nice linguistic flukes the likes of which I had never experienced before.”In their wordsPart One, p. 33Read the whole statement

“If only one had a piece of bread! One of those delicious little loaves of rye bread that you could munch on as you walked the streets.”In their wordsPart Two, pp. 66, 67, 68Read the whole statement

1859Born4 August 1859

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Portrett av Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) (cropped)

A világosság könyvtár borítódísze

Benedicció de la terra

Brev fra Knut Hamsun til Gamlehjem for Døve, Trondhjem (1923)

Das Dresdner Streichquartett spielt das G-moll Quartett von Edvarg Grieg - no-nb digifoto 20150515 00121 bldsa HA0381

Frydenlund2

Hamsun Farbschema

Hamsun ny jord

In their own words 10

Knut Hamsun

10 statements, newest first

I am not worthy to speak loudly of Adolf Hitler, nor do his life and deeds call for sentimental arousal.
May 7, 1945, An obituary for Adolf Hitler, Aftenposten (7 May 1945), Own words
In old age... we are like a batch of letters that someone has sent. We are no longer in the past, we have arrived.
1909, Wanderers (1909), Own words
And love became the world's origin and the world's ruler, yet littered its path is with flowers and blood, flowers and blood.
1898, Victoria (1898), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature1920

Goethe Medal for Art and Science

Family

Knut Hamsun

Partners

Children

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Knut Hamsun published more than 23 novels across seven decades, beginning with his rejection of realism in favor of what he called "the whisper of blood, and the pleading of bone marrow" - the intricacies of the human mind. Works like Hunger (1890), Mysteries (1892), and Pan (1894) pioneered stream of consciousness and interior monologue, earning him the 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature and the admiration of writers across continents. His later "Nordland novels" turned toward rural Norway, employing local dialect and irony. But his Anglophobia hardened into open support for Nazi Germany: he donated his Nobel medal to Joseph Goebbels and met Hitler during the occupation. Charged with treason after the war, he was fined heavily in 1948 but not convicted due to his age and alleged mental decline. His final book, On Overgrown Paths, was written in semi-imprisonment and answered the accusations against him.

Country

Norway

In common with Knut

Lillebil IbsenAlso in Pan (1922)

John W. BruniusAlso in Iron Wills (1923)

Karen PoulsenAlso in Growth of the Soil (1921)

Suzanne MarwilleAlso in Poslední radost (1922)

Gerd GriegAlso in Pan (1922)

William LarssonAlso in Iron Wills (1923)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.