Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen
The big four of Faroese literature from left to right: Janus Djurhuus , Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen, William Heinesen and Hans A. Djurhuus 1924.

Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen (born November 29, 1900 in Tórshavn , Faroe Islands , † March 24, 1938 in Vejlefjord , Denmark ) is one of the most famous Faroese writers .

Jacobsen himself wrote in Danish and was only later translated into his mother tongue, Faroese . His most famous work is the novel Barbara , which came out in 1939 and was based on the old Faroese tradition from the pastor's wife Beinta Broberg .

Live and act

Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen was cand. Mag. in History and French from the University of Copenhagen . He was particularly concerned with Nordic history and as a journalist wrote a number of features and articles, as well as two books on the Faroe Islands' political relations with the north and Denmark.

He developed pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 21 and had to spend long periods of his short life in tuberculosis sanatoriums. Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen had beautiful literary ambitions, and in 1934 he began his life's work - the historical novel Barbara . The novel, written in Danish and published a year after his death, was a success from the start and has been translated into many languages. Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen was a passionate letter writer and had regular correspondence with his friend and relative of the same age, the poet William Heinesen (1900-1991), who was also a well-known letter writer. In 1958, William Heinesen edited a selection of Jørgen-Frantz's letters in the book Det dyrebare liv (The Precious Life). In one of the letters it says:

Life is great and demonic, worth loving and obeying. And the greatest thing in life is renewed resignation. I was aware of this when I caught Beethoven's 5th Symphony in a stormy hour almost eight years ago .

In his letters he mentioned his probably hopeless love affair with a woman he called "Barbara" (in reality his cousin Estrid Bannister Good), and his plans to write a novel, the external plot of which is based on sagas and traditions from around 1700 the young pastor's wife Beinta Broberg , who enchanted everyone with her beauty and grace. According to tradition, this historical daughter of the Løgting secretary (sorinskrivari) Peder Sørensen Broberg was responsible for the early death of her first two husbands and ultimately led the third into great misery. But the historical inspiration only applied to the outer frames - Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen's composite, unfathomable and very human Barbara has little in common with the evil seductress of the legend ( Illa Beinta - the evil Beinta). He writes about Barbara:

She is also faithful in her way, but she always falls. There is something tragic in the hopeless fight between the good Barbara and the unreliable one .

The novel was made into a film by UFA in 1961 , but the material was interpreted quite freely. For example, Barbara was the wife of a doctor there, not a priest. A second film adaptation is the film Barbara by Nils Malmros in 1997.

Works

(Selection)

  • 1927 - Danmark og Færøerne (essay)
  • 1936 - Færøerne, natur og folk (essay)
  • 1939 - Barbara (novel)
  • 1941 - Den yderste kyst (essay)
    • 1965 - in German ( The Last Coast , translation by Esther Bierberg , published in 1965 by the Press and Information Department of the Danish Foreign Ministry)
    • 1965 - in English ( The farthest shore , translation by Reginald Spink , published in 1965 by Press and Information Dept., Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
  • 1943 - Nordiske kronikker (essay)
  • 1958 - Det dyrebare liv (letters)

Film adaptations

literature

  • William Heinesen et al .: Omkring Barbara: en antologi . Frederiksberg: Fisker & Schou, 1997. - 174 pp.
  • Jógvan Isaksen : Á verðin, verðin! : skaldsøgan "Barbara" eftir Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen København: Mentunargrunnur studentafelagsins, 1998. - 157 pp.
    • Jógvan Isaksen: Live's brilliant relief: omkring Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen's novel Barbara . - København: Fisker, 2001. - 95 s.
  • Bjarne Nielsen Brovst: William Heinesen, Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen and Barbara: en hjertets laterna magica . Herning: Poul Kristensen, 2000. - 193 pp.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Jacobsen, Jørgen-Frantz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Faroese writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Tórshavn , Faroe Islands
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1938
Place of death Vejlefjord , Denmark