Ronald Fangen
Ronald Fangen | |
|---|---|
 Ronald Fangen in 1932 | |
| Born | 29 April 1895 Kragerø,Norway |
| Died | 22 May 1946(aged 51) Snarøya,Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, essayist, playwright, psalmist, journalist and literary critic |
Ronald Fangen(29 April 1895 – 22 May 1946) was a Norwegian novelist, essayist, playwright, psalmist, journalist and literary critic.[1]
Biography
[edit]Ronald August Fangen was born atKragerøinTelemark,Norway. His parents were Sten August Fangen (1858-1933) and Alice Maud Lister (1864-1931). Following his parents' divorce when he was five years old, he lived partly with relatives inBergenand partly atFinse. As a child, he was frequently ill. This strongly influenced him as did the death of an older brother who took his own life after being accused of school fraud.[2]
Fangen became a journalist with the newspaperVerdens Gangin from 1913. Fangen made his literary debut in 1915 with the novelDe svake.In 1923 he started the journalVor Verden,withHenrik Grothas editor-in-chief. He served as chairman of the Norwegian Author's Association (Forfatterforeningen) from 1928-32.[2][3]
Fangen issued several religious essays and publications during his career. Fangen is most commonly associated with the hymnGuds menighet er jordens største under(1942). With melody byArild Sandvold(1895–1984), it was originally a part of the Missionary Canton of the Norwegian Missionary Society's 100th anniversary published in August 1942. The hymn has remained popular in Norway and was included in theNorsk salmebokin 1985 and 2013.[4][5]
The Christian organization known as theOxford Groupcame to Norway in 1934 at the invitation ofC. J. Hambro,President of theNorwegian Parliament.Fangen joined it and soon became one of its leading personalities. In October 1934, Fangen took part in an Oxford Group house party, at the invitation of Carl Hambro. The Oxford Group had been founded by founded by the American Lutheran missionaryFrank Buchman.Hambro invited 120 of his friends to meet Buchman and thirty companions at the Hotel Norge Høsbjør atBrumunddal. Garth Lean, Buchman’s biographer writes that: ‘Fangen, the novelist, brought two bottles of whisky and a crate of books, expecting boredom. He did not find time to open either. His change was immediately visible and long remembered. Even twenty years later, poetAlf Larsenspoke of the “hopeless naivety” of the Group's philosophy as compared with his ownanthroposophy.It had however completely transformed Fangen, who before that, in his opinion, had been the most unpleasant man in Norway.’[6]
He receivedGyldendal's Endowmentin 1940. In November 1940, Fangen was the first Norwegian writer to be arrested by during theOccupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.He arrest was due to an essay published in the periodicalKirke og Kultur.He was imprisoned atMøllergata 19from October 1940 to January 1941. He was then transferred to Ullevål Hospital, since he was very ill during this period. After the liberation of Norway, Fangen was instrumental in the formation of the newspaperVårt Land,which was first issued in August 1945.[1]
In 1946, he perished in a plane crash onSnarøyanearOslo Airport Fornebu. Among biographers who have written about Fangen and his writings areCarl Fredrik Engelstad,Egil Yngvar Elseth, Reidar Huseby andJan Inge Sørbø.[2]
Selected bibliography
[edit]- De svake(1915; novel)
- Slægt føder slægt(1916; novel)
- Streiftog i digtning og tænkning(1919; essays)
- Syndefald(1920; play)
- Fienden(1922; play)
- Duel(1932; novel)
- Dagen og veien(1934; essays)
- En kristen verdensrevolusjon. Mitt møte med Oxforgruppebevegelsen(1935; essays)
- Kristen enhet. Gruppebevegelsens økumeniske budskap(1937; essays)
- Kristendommen og vår tid(1938 essays)
- Kristent budskap til vår tid. Nordiske prekener(1939; essays)
- Borgerfesten(1939; novel)
- Krig og kristen tro(1940; essays)
- En lysets engel(1945; novel)
- I nazistenes fengsel(1975; notes from prison, posthumously)
Awards
[edit]- Gyldendal's Endowment- 1940
Biographies
[edit]- Carl Fredrik Engelstad(1946)Ronald Fangen: en mann og hans samtid(Oslo: Gyldendal)
- Egil Yngvar Elseth (1953)Ronald Fangen. Fra humanist til kristen(Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forl.)
- Bernt T. Oftestad (1981)Kristentro og kulturansvar hos Ronald Fangen(Oslo: Gyldendal)
- Reidar Huseby, ed. (1995)Frihet, ansvar, tjeneste. Ronald Fangens liv og visjon(Verbum)ISBN978-8-254-306932
- Jan Inge Sørbø(1999)Over dype svelg. Eit essay om Ronalds Fangens aktualitet,(Oslo: Gyldendal)ISBN978-8-205-254183
- Stewart D Govig (2005)Ronald Fangen: Church and Culture in Norway(iUniverse, Inc.)ISBN978-0-595-35441-2
References
[edit]- ^abErik Bjerck Hagen."Ronald Fangen".Store norske leksikon.RetrievedApril 1,2018.
- ^abcJan Inge Sørbø."Ronald Fangen".Norsk biografisk leksikon.RetrievedApril 1,2018.
- ^"Arild Sandvold".lokalhistoriewiki.RetrievedMay 1,2018.
- ^Stig Wernø Holter."Guds menighet er jordens største under".Store norske leksikon.RetrievedApril 1,2018.
- ^Harald Herresthal."Arild Sandvold".Norsk biografisk leksikon.RetrievedApril 1,2018.
- ^Lean, Garth (1985).Frank Buchman - A Life.London: Constable & Co. p. 217.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1895 births
- 1946 deaths
- People from Kragerø
- Norwegian essayists
- Norwegian hymnwriters
- 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century essayists
- 20th-century Norwegian novelists
- Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights
- Norwegian male novelists
- 20th-century Norwegian journalists
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1946