Knut Hamsun (August 4, 1859 - February 19, 1952) was a leading Norwegian author, born in Lom under the name of Knud Pedersen.

He first received acclaim for his 1890 novel Sult, translated as Hunger. The semi-autobiographical work described a young writer's descent into near madness as a result of hunger and poverty. In many ways, the novel presages the writings of Franz Kafka and other twentieth-century novelists, who explored the madness of the contemporary human condition. The book has since become one of the most influential novels of the 20th century. The work that followed it, Mysteries, was perhaps his masterpiece. Other important works by Hamsun include Pan and The Growth of the Soil, for which he received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1920.

Despite his immense popularity in Norway and around the world, Hamsun's reputation waned considerably because of his support of Vidkun Quisling's Nazi regime during World War II. Following a meeting with Joseph Goebbels in 1943, he sent Goebbels his Nobel Prize medal as a gift. Hamsun also met with Adolf Hitler and tried to have him remove Josef Terboven from the position of Reichskommissar of Norway.

After the war, he was confined for several months in a psychiatric hospital for tests to determine his sanity. In 1948 he was fined 325,000 kroner for collaboration. The Danish author Thorkil Hansen investigated the trial and wrote the book The Trial Against Hamsun (1978) about it, which created a turmoil in Norway. Among other things Hansen stated: "If you want to meet idiots, go to Norway", since he felt that treating an old man like that was outrageous. In 1996 the Swedish director Jan Troell based the movie "Hamsun" on Hansen's book. In "Hamsun" Max von Sydow plays Hamsun.

Bibliography

Year	Title	Translated title	ISBN
1877	Den Gaadefulde. En kjærlighedshistorie fra Nordland (Published under Knud Pedersen)
1878	Et Gjensyn (Published under Knud Pedersen Hamsun)
1878	Bjørger (Published under Knud Pedersen Hamsun)
1889	Lars Oftedal. Udkast (11 articles, earlier printed in Dagbladet)
1889	Fra det moderne Amerikas Aandsliv
1890	Sult	Hunger	ISBN 0374525285
1892	Mysterier	Mysteries	ISBN 0-14-118618-6
1893	Redaktør Lynge
1893	Ny Jord
1894	Pan	Pan	ISBN 0141180676
1895	Ved Rigets Port
1896	Livets Spil
1897	Siesta
1898	Aftenrøde. Slutningspil
1898	Victoria. En kjærlighedshistorie	Victoria	ISBN 1557131775
1902	Munken vendt. Brigantines saga I
1903	I Æventyrland. Oplevet og drømt i Kaukasier	In Wonderland	ISBN 0970312555
1903	Dronning Tamara (Play in three acts)
1903	Kratskog
1904	Det vilde Kor (Poems)
1904	Sværmere	Dreamers	ISBN 0811213218
1905	Stridende Liv. Skildringer fra Vesten og Østen
1906	Under Høststjærnen. En Vandrers Fortælling	Under the Autumn Star	ISBN 1557133433
1908	Benoni
1908	Rosa. Af student Pærelius' papirer	Rosa	ISBN 155713359X
1909	En Vandrer spiller med Sordin	A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings	ISBN 1892295733
1910	Livet i vold (Play in four acts)
1912	Den sidste Glæde	The Last Joy	ISBN 1931243190
1913	Børn av Tiden
1915	Segelfoss By 1
1915	Segelfoss By 2
1917	Markens Grøde 1	Growth of the Soil	ISBN 0394717813
1917	Markens Grøde 2
1918	Sproget i fare
1920	Konerne ved Vandposten I	The Women at the Pump	ISBN 1-55713-244-5
1920	Konerne ved Vandposten II
1923	Siste Kapitel I
1923	Siste Kapitel II
1927	Landstrykere I	Wayfarers	ISBN 1557132119
1927	Landstrykere II
1930	August I
1930	August II
1933	Men Livet lever I
1933	Men Livet lever I
1936	Ringen Sluttet
1949	Paa gjengrodde Stier	On Overgrown Paths	ISBN 1892295105

Books about Hamsun

• Ferguson, Robert. Enigma:The Life of Knut Hamsun Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York: 1987. ISBN 0374520933
• Humpal, Martin. The Roots of Modernist Narrative: Knut Hamsun's Novels Hunger, Mysteries and Pan International Specialized Book Services. 1999 ISBN 8256011785
• Kolloen, Ingar Sletten. Svermeren 2003 Biography
• Kolloen, Ingar Sletten. Erobreren 2004 Biography

External links

• Knut Hamsun Online http://www.hamsun.dk
• Biography from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.odin.dep.no/odin/engelsk/norway/history/032005-990484/index-dok000-b-
  n-a.html
• Knut Hamsun as nobel prize laureate http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1920/
• Biography and bibliography http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/khamsun.htm