A Brief Henrik Ibsen Bio

Ibsen (Henrik), an eminent Norwegian dramatist and poet, b. Skien, 20 March, 1828. At first he studied medicine, but he turned his attention to literature. In ’52, through the influence of Ole Bull, he became director of the theatre at Bergen, for which he wrote a great deal. From ’57 to ’63 he directed the theatre at Christiania. In the following year he went to Rome. The Storthing accorded him an annual pension for his services to literature. His dramas, Brand, (Peer Gynt), Kejser og Galilær (Cæsar [Julian] and the Galilean), Nora, and Samfundets Stotler (the Pillars of Society), and Ghosts exhibit [183]his unconventional spirit. Ibsen is an open unbeliever in Christianity. He looks forward to social regeneration through liberty, individuality, and education without superstition.