Novelist, born in Lom, SC Norway. Raised on the Lofoten Is with little education, he worked at various odd jobs, and twice visited the USA (1882–4, 1886–8), where he worked as a streetcar attendant in Chicago and a farmhand in North Dakota. He sprang to fame with his novel Sult (1890, Hunger), followed by Mysterier (1892, Mysteries) and the lyrical Pan (1894). His masterpiece is considered Markens grøde (1917, Growth of the Soil), which was instrumental in his award of the 1920 Nobel Prize for Literature. A recluse during the inter-war years, he lost popularity during World War 2 for his Nazi sympathies, but his reputation has been largely rehabilitated. A 15-volume edition of his complete works was published posthumously in 1954.