Johan Herman Wessel
Johan Herman Wessel (born October 6, 1742 in Vestby , Viken , † December 29, 1785 in Copenhagen ) was a Norwegian poet and writer.
Life
Wessel was born and raised in Vestby, Norway. His father was a pastor and his uncle was the mathematician Caspar Wessel . He was related to the naval war hero Peter Wessel Tordenskiold . At the age of 19 he moved to Copenhagen to study. There he occasionally worked on his works, limited by his poor health and alcoholism. He was a leading member of the Norwegian Society (Norske Selskab) in Copenhagen, a club for Norwegian writers who cultivated their national identity and wrote in classical meters .
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Wessel is best known for his humorous and satirical verse stories (1784–1785) about the stupidity and injustice of mankind. The most famous of these stories is Smeden og Bageren (The Blacksmith and the Baker) and is about a blacksmith who is forgiven for murder because the village only has this one blacksmith and therefore does not want to do without. Instead, a baker is executed (the village has two bakers, so is not dependent on one) in order to obey the rule of “life for life”. In Herrenmanden (The Landowner), a man who has just arrived in Hell learns unpleasant things about the descent of his own son. Hundemordet (The Dog Murder) is about how people quarrel over trivial matters.
Wessel's style is thoughtful, varied and detailed and digressive, yet elegant and funny at the same time. Another genre are the epigrams he wrote, especially his short, precise, self-deprecating memorial poems, many of which are still quoted today.
His satirical play Kierlighed uden Strømper (1774, German The Groom Without Stockings , 1827) is a biting parody of the bad imitations of the classic French drama . The play takes place in the everyday milieu of banal conflicts, but observes the formal rules of heroic language. It is still performed today.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wessel, Johan Herman |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Norwegian poet and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1742 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vestby , Viken |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 29, 1785 |
| Place of death | Copenhagen |