William Heinesen

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William Heinesen. Most famous Faroe Islands writer worldwide. Postage stamp from 1988
The little merman
The temptation of St. Anthony

William Heinesen (born January 15, 1900 in Tórshavn ; † March 12, 1991 ibid) was the most important poet of the Faroe Islands . He was also known as a visual artist and composer .

Life

William Heinesen's father, the shipowner and businessman Zacharias Heinesen, was born in the Faroese town of Bøur on the island of Vágar. Her mother, Caroline Restorff, was from Tórshavn with Danish roots: her grandfather MC Restorff had settled in the Faroe Islands in 1848 and founded the trading company of the same name, her mother came from Copenhagen. The family language was Danish. At the age of sixteen, Heinesen went to business school in Copenhagen to undergo commercial training - "instead he became a poet". The meeting with the Danish author Otto Gelsted was particularly significant . Heinesen lived partly in Denmark and partly in the Faroe Islands until the early 1930s . In 1932 he returned permanently to the Faroe Islands, married Elise Susanne Johansen (1907–2002) and joined his father's company, which he continued to run from 1944 to 1954 after his father's death.

Heinesen's literary work is written in Danish. "For Heinesen, Copenhagen and the Danish language are the gateway to the world". Nevertheless, he is undoubtedly one of the leading figures of the Faroese national movement in its cultural dimension. His books have been translated into many languages ​​and the work comprises seven collections of poetry, seven novels and seven collections of short stories.

His first novel Blæsende Gry was published in 1934, his second Noatun (1938) was published in German in 1939.

In 1965 Heinesen was the first Faroese to receive the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for Det gode håb . Besides Rói Patursson, he is the only Faroese who has received this award. In 1980 the writer was honored with the Danish Critics' Prize for his work Her Skal danses .

In the fine arts he developed perfection in paper cutting in old age . A comprehensive catalog of his artistic work was published in 2018.

The visual artist Heinesen

His world of images is an extension of his imaginative stories, the motifs of which come primarily from the world of legends, adventure and mythology , as well as from the Garden of Eden, which at the time disappeared . The inspirations are based on a feeling for nature, superior cheerfulness, satire, robust and exuberant joie de vivre and a pronounced sense for the ornamental and decorative.

In a spirit that can be compared to Bauer and Arosenius in Sweden - Kittelsen and Werenskiold in Norway, William Heinesen made a series of book illustrations on themes from the world of sagas and adventure.

In pastel painting he created a peculiar, magical, soulful mood after the war and in the 1950s. Themes from the underground world and life are ambiguous and glide imperceptibly into satires - the traits of politicians , businessmen and hypocritical seducers are in lovable gnome - physiognomy caricatured . In drawings by men and women from Tórshavn's past, an exuberant humor and a pronounced sense of the organic arabesque of the line emerge.

The large wall decorations in the auditorium of the Tórshavner elementary school with motifs from Sigurdlieder mark a breakthrough to the decorative Arcadian universe to which he dedicated his last years. Poetry was always at the forefront and did not allow a distinctly coherent artistic development before William Heinesen dedicated himself to paper collages in the mid-1970s , with which he worked intensively for 10 years. The years 1976–78 are particularly productive. The decorative imagination is constantly finding new ways in these groundbreaking collages .

Heinesen's lush, baroque pictorial universe has enriched Faroese visual art with a distinctive dimension. His production in this area is extensive and impressive - wall decorations, a number of 100 book covers for the Bókagarður publishing house, book illustrations, posters, sheet drawings, record covers, etc.

In addition, as an organizer and inspirer, art critic and announcer, he played a major role in the development of the new visual art in the Faroe Islands. For example, in 1927 he organized the first art exhibition together with Mikines .

literature

  • There is dancing here! (Short stories), Guggolz Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-945370-17-9 (translation: Inga Meincke, epilogue and edition: Verena Stössinger ; short stories from: Det fortryllede lys 1957, Gamaliels besættelse 1960, Kur mod onde ånder 1967 , Don Juan from Tranhuset 1970, Fortællinger from Thorshavn 1973, Her Skal danses 1980, Laterna magica.Nye erindringsnoveller 1985 Excursion i Underverdenen 1998)
  • At home on earth (poem), in: Europa erlesen Färöer, ed. by Sven H. Rossel and Alexander Sitzmann, Wieser Verlag, Klagenfurt 2016, pp. 34–35, ISBN 978-3-99029-083-5 (translation of the poem Hjemme på jorden by Sven H. Rossel , published in 1961 )
  • Master Jakob and Jungfer Urd. A comforting tale about the late Eros, in: Midsummer Fire . Scandinavian love stories, ed. by Gabriele Haefs and Dagmar Missfeldt, Droemer, Munich 2008 (translation: Christel Hildebrandt; title reprinted in: Hier wird danced! 2018)
  • The darkness speaks, The white man, haymaking by the sea (poems), in: Frá Árstovubrøðrunum til Tórodd - føroysk yrking í hundrað ár / From Djurhuus to Poulsen - Faroese poetry from 100 years, ed. by Paul Alfred Kleinert, Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2007, pp. 39–43, ISBN 978-3-86703-546-0 ( adaptation by Günther Deicke of the poems Mørket taler til den blomtrende busk from Panorama med regnbue 1972, Den hvide mand from Hymne og harmsang 1961 and Høbjergning ved Havet from the poetry book of the same name from 1924; interlinear translation Inga Meincke)
  • Nasse Heimat (story), in: "I know about islands ..." - Stories from the Faroe Islands, ed. by Verena Stössinger and Anna Katharina Dömling, Unionsverlag, Zurich 2006, pp. 7–17, ISBN 978-3-293-00366-8 (translation: Gisela Perlet; title of the Danish original: Våd hjemstavn , from: Fortællinger fra Thorshavn 1973)
  • Don Juan vom Tranhaus (story), in: "I know about islands ..." - Stories from the Faroe Islands, ed. by Verena Stössinger and Anna Katharina Dömling, Unionsverlag, Zurich 2006, pp. 7–17, ISBN 978-3-293-00366-8 (translation: Gisela Perlet; reprinted in Hier wird danced 2018; title of the Danish original: Don Juan fra Tranhuset , 1970)
  • Guests from the moon (story), in: Scandinavian storytellers of the 20th century, ed. by Manfred Kluge, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1996, pp. 35–38, ISBN 3-453-09244-9 (translation of the story Gæster fra månen by Heinz Barüske)
  • The tower at the end of the world . A poetic mosaic novel about the earliest youth (novel), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1991, 1st edition, ISBN 3-353-00814-4 (translation: AO Schwede; title of the Danish original edition: Tårnet ved verdens ende. En poetisk mosaic novel om den yngste ungdom, 1976)
  • The enchanted light (stories), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1977, 2nd expanded edition (translation: AO Schwede; stories from: Det fortryllede lys 1957, Gamaliels besættelse 1960, Kur mod onde ånder 1967, Don Juan fra Tranhuset 1970, Fortællinger from Thorshavn 1973)
  • The good hope (novel), Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1968
  • Die "Gute Hoffnung " (novel), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1967 (translation: Ellen de Boor; title of the Danish original edition: Det gode håb , 1964)
  • The enchanted light (stories), Volk und Welt publishing house, Berlin 1966
  • The black kettle (novel), Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1964 (translation: Emil Charlet; title of the Danish original edition: Den sorte gryde, 1949)
  • The damn musicians. Novel from the Faroe Islands , Carl Schünemann, Bremen 1952, 1. – 5. Thousand (Translation: Ernst Harthern; Title of the Danish original edition: De fortabte spillemænd, 1950)
  • The black cauldron (novel), Kantorowicz, Berlin 1951
  • The people of Noatun (novel), Deuerlichsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Göttingen 1939 (translation: Günther Ruprecht in collaboration with I. Sandmeier and S. Angermann; title of the Danish original edition: Noatun , 1938)

Awards

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sidsel Sander Mittet: Analysis: Heinesen, William. In: Litteratursiden. Libraries in Denmark, accessed September 15, 2018 (Danish).
  2. ^ Eigil Søholm: William Heinesen. In: The Danske store. Gyldendal, August 24, 2017, accessed September 15, 2018 (Danish).
  3. ↑ Merete Harding, Erik Vagn Jensen: William Heinesen: William Heinesen. In: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 3rd edition. Gyldendal 1979-1984, accessed September 15, 2018 (Danish).
  4. ↑ Bergur Rønne Moberg: Forfatteren, the snublede i start. En litteratursociologisk undersøgelse af William Heinesens romanskitser and kampen for et gennembrud in 1920'erne and 1930'erne. In: www.idunn.no. EDDA volume 104, 2017, SS 390 , accessed on September 15, 2018 (Danish, with an English summary).
  5. ^ Bárður Jákupsson: William Heinesen - billedmageren . TORGARD, Hedehusene 2018, ISBN 978-87-92286-95-6 .
  6. ↑ Litteraturprisvindere 1962 - 2017. Nordisk Samarbeijde, accessed on September 5, 2018 (Danish).
  7. ↑ Det Danske Akademi: Tidligere Medlemmer. Det Danske Akademi, accessed September 5, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Heinesen, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Faroese poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Tórshavn
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1991
Place of death Tórshavn