Alf Prøysen

Alf Prøysen
Alf Prøysen with his typewriter in 1964
Born	(1914-07-23)23 July 1914 Ringsaker in Hedmark, Norway
Died	23 November 1970(1970-11-23) (aged 56) Oslo, Norway
Resting place	Cemetery of Our Saviour, Oslo, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	author, poet, playwright and musician
Notable work	Dørstokken heme (1945)
Spouse(s)	Else Storhaug (1948–2015)
Children	2
Awards	Arts Council Norway Honorary Award

Alf Prøysen (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970) was a Norwegian author, poet, playwright, songwriter and musician. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the twentieth century. He made significant contributions to literature, music, television and radio. He is most noted for his series of books featuring the fictional character Mrs. Pepperpot (Norwegian: Teskjekjerringa, Swedish: Teskedsgumman) which established him as a children's author.^[1][2]

Background

He was born at Rudshøgda in Ringsaker in Hedmark county, Norway. He was the son of Olaf Andreassen (1880-1959) and Julie Mathiasdatter (1879-1961). He was raised as the youngest of four children born to a rural farm family.^{[3] [4]}

Statue of Alf Prøysen at Rudshøgda in Ringsaker by Sivert Donali

Prøysenhuset at Rudshøgda in Ringsaker

Exhibit at Prøysenhuset

Career

Prøysen contributed to many artistic fields: children's radio, short stories, theater and music. Most of his stories and songs took place in an environment similar to the rural village where he grew up. In 1945 he debuted with the novel collection Dørstokken heme. His only novel Trost i taklampa (1950) was a success both as a book and as a play. He was frequently featured on radio and television programs during the 1950s and 1960s. Prøysen was awarded the Norwegian Cultural Council Honorary Prize (Norsk kulturråds ærespris) in 1970. ^[5]

The largest part of Prøysen's writing consisted of short stories. Much of his production was made for children. The first stories about Teskjekjerringa were published in the magazine Kooperatøren. In 1956 the first book of a series about Teskedsgumman was published in Swedish. The first Norwegian publication appeared in 1957. The first book appeared in English in 1959 with the titled character named Mrs. Pepperpot. ^[6]

Personal life

He married Else Storhaug (1916-2015) in 1948. They had two children, a daughter, Elin Julie and a son, Alf Ketil. Alf Prøysen died of cancer at aged 56. He was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.^[7]

Prior to Prøysen's 90th anniversary of his birth in July 2004, Prøysen's biographer Ove Røsbak – who had published his biography in 1992, wrote an article in Dagbladet. ^[8] Røsbak claimed that several of his sources confirmed that Prøysen had discussed his bisexuality during the 1960s. ^[9] Dagbladet also had an interview with gay activist Karen-Christine Friele in which she confirmed that Prøysen had told her about his love of men and his divided life.^[10][11] This resulted in considerable debate. Dagbladet editor Knut Olav Åmås commented later that the debate revealed mixed feelings towards gay/bisexuality.^{[12][13] [14]}

Prøysenhuset

Prøysenhuset is a cultural center and museum located at Rudshøgda in Ringsaker. The center has an auditorium, gift shop, café and play ground. The main part of the museum is a permanent exhibition that tells of the life and career of Alf Prøysen. It was designed by the architectural and engineering firm Snøhetta and was opened on 23 July 2014. It was financed by businessman and investor Arthur Buchardt and now operates as a department under the Cultural Office of the municipality of Ringsaker.^{[15][16] [17]}

Teskjekjerringa series

• 1960 -Teskjekjerringa på nye eventyr
• 1965 - Teskjekjerringa i eventyrskauen
• 1967- Teskjekjerringa på camping
• 1970 - Teskjekjerringa på julehandel
• 1989 - Teskjekjerringa på blåbærtur
• 1990 - Teskjekjerringa og elgen
• 1991 - Teskjekjerringa og den skjulte skatten
• 1992 - Teskjekjerringa på basar

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alf Prøysen.

References

Other sources

• Bjørn Ivar Fyksen (2013) Alminnelige arbesfolk om Alf Prøysens prosaforfatterskap (Oplandske bokforl) ISBN 9788275182164
• Helge Hagen & Dag Solberg (1984) Med en fiol bak øret. En Bok Om Alf Prøysen (Tiden Norsk Forlag) ISBN 9788210025808
• Ove Røsbak (1992) Alf Prøysen: Præstvægen og sjustjerna (Gyldendal Norsk Forlag) ISBN 978-8205209558
• Maria Lassen-Seger (2014) Empowering Transformations: Mrs Pepperpot Revisited (Cambridge Scholars Publishing) ISBN 978-1443856997
• Elin Tinholt (2004) Prøysen: ti stemmer om vennskap og viser (N. W. Damm & Søn) ISBN 9788204098894

Related reading

• Alf Proysen (1960) Teskedsgumman (Raben & Sjogren) ISBN 978-9129583694 Swedish
• Alf Proysen (1978) Fortellingene om Teskjekjerringa (Tiden Norsk Forlag) ISBN 978-8210016424 Norwegian

External links

• Biography from Prøysenhuset, a museum dedicated to the artist.
• Biography written by the artist's daughter, Elin Prøysen.
• Mer om Alf Prøysens seksuelle legning – Forfatter Ove Røsbak «rømte landet» etter at han slapp sin Prøysen-biografi i 1992. Nå har han fornyet biografien, gir den ut på nytt og supplerer med opplysninger om forfatterens seksuelle legning. [More about Alf Prøysen's sexual identity – Author Ove Røsbak "fled the country" after he released his Prøysen-biography in 1992. Now he has updated the biography, re-released it with information about Prøysen's sexual identity]