Johan Falkberget


Johan Falkberget, born Johan Petter Lillebakken, was a Norwegian author. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Life and career

Johan Falkberget was born on the Lillebakken farm in the Rugldal valley in the Norwegian copper mining municipality of Røros.
In 1891, he began to write his Christianus Sextus trilogy, though it was not published until later. He formally changed his surname for writing purposes in 1893, from Lillebakken to Falkberget—the name of the farm he then lived on. His first work was published in 1902. In 1906 he quit his job as a miner and found a job as editor of the newspaper «Nybrott» in Ålesund. In 1908 he traveled to Fredrikstad and edited «Smaalenes Socialdemokrat». He then received a government-sponsored scholarship and traveled to Kirkenes. From 1909 till 1922 his primary residence and workplace was in Kristiania.
In 1922 he returned to Røros and lived on the Ratvolden farm, less than 1 km from the Falkberget farm. His Ratvolden house is now a museum. While living there, he represented the Norwegian Labour Party for Sør-Trøndelag in the Storting from 1931 to 1933.
Since he grew up in a mining area and began his career as a miner, his works drew extensively on his experiences with the people, the country culture and mining. His breakthrough work in 1923 was a novel titled «Den fjerde nattevakt» or "The Fourth Night Watch", a historic novel set in the first half of the 19th century in and around the mines. This was followed by his «Christianus Sextus» trilogy, set in the 1720s, in which the mining culture is also a central theme. Falkberget contributed extensively to the newspaper Fjell-Ljom.
After a long and productive life, he died on 5 April 1967 and is buried in the family plot in the upper churchyard at Røros.

Authorship

"The miners' toil and rhythm of life became the fulcrum of Falkberget's literature", according to Sturle Kojen.

Important works