Rolf G. Fjelde
Encyclopedia
Rolf G. Fjelde was an American playwright
, educator and poet
. Fjelde was the founding president of the Ibsen Society of America which is dedicated to the works of Henrik Ibsen
.
. His grandfather was the Norwegian born sculptor Jacob Fjelde
(1859-1896), who had immigrated to Minnesota
in 1887. His great-aunt was Minnesota needlework artist and weaver, Pauline Fjelde
. Rolf Fjelde grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut
and graduated from Yale University
. After receiving an M.F.A. from Columbia University
, he received fellowships to study in Heidelberg
and Copenhagen
.
in Brooklyn, accepting a position in the Humanities Department, where he was a Professor of Literature until his retirement in 1997. Rolf Fjelde won the Pratt Institute Distinguished Teacher Award for 1996.
Rolf Fjelde published two volumes of poetry, in 1955 and 1962, and in 1965, published the first volume of his Ibsen translations. This began the translating career that culminated in Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays (1978) and Peer Gynt (1980). In 1991, the King of Norway honored Rolf Fjelde for his translations by awarding him the St. Olav's Medal. Two years later, The American Academy of Arts and Letters presented Rolf Fjelde with its Award in Literature.
During 1978, the Ibsen Sesquecentennial Symposium celebrating the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Ibsen's birth, took place on the Brooklyn campus of Pratt Institute. This was the beginning of the Ibsen Society of America of which Rolf Fjelde was elected as founding President. He held the office for fifteen years. Rolf Fjelde also founded the publication, Ibsen News and Comment, the newsletter and journal of The Ibsen Society of America, which has been published annually since1980.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, educator and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. Fjelde was the founding president of the Ibsen Society of America which is dedicated to the works of Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
.
Background
Rolf G. Fjelde was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father was noted sculptor, Paul FjeldePaul Fjelde
-Background:Paul Fjelde was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota the son of Jacob Fjelde, a sculptor who emigrated from Norway. Jacob Fjelde was a well-known sculptor in Norway when he emigrated to the United States in 1887. After Jacob’s untimely death at age 36, the Fjelde family moved to North Dakota...
. His grandfather was the Norwegian born sculptor Jacob Fjelde
Jacob Fjelde
Jacob H. Fjelde was a Norwegian born, American sculptor.-Background:Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde was born in Ålesund Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. His father, a carpenter and wood carver had moved to the United States in 1872, though Fjelde did not arrive there until about 1887. After arriving in...
(1859-1896), who had immigrated to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in 1887. His great-aunt was Minnesota needlework artist and weaver, Pauline Fjelde
Pauline Fjelde
Pauline Fjelde was a Norwegian born American painter, embroiderer, and textile artist.-Background:Pauline Gerhardine Fjelde was born in Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. She and her family immigrated to the United States in 1887. Pauline Fjelde is one of a lineage of family artisans...
. Rolf Fjelde grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
and graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. After receiving an M.F.A. from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he received fellowships to study in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Career
In 1954, Fjelde joined his father, a Professor of Art, on the faculty of Pratt InstitutePratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in Brooklyn, accepting a position in the Humanities Department, where he was a Professor of Literature until his retirement in 1997. Rolf Fjelde won the Pratt Institute Distinguished Teacher Award for 1996.
Rolf Fjelde published two volumes of poetry, in 1955 and 1962, and in 1965, published the first volume of his Ibsen translations. This began the translating career that culminated in Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays (1978) and Peer Gynt (1980). In 1991, the King of Norway honored Rolf Fjelde for his translations by awarding him the St. Olav's Medal. Two years later, The American Academy of Arts and Letters presented Rolf Fjelde with its Award in Literature.
During 1978, the Ibsen Sesquecentennial Symposium celebrating the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Ibsen's birth, took place on the Brooklyn campus of Pratt Institute. This was the beginning of the Ibsen Society of America of which Rolf Fjelde was elected as founding President. He held the office for fifteen years. Rolf Fjelde also founded the publication, Ibsen News and Comment, the newsletter and journal of The Ibsen Society of America, which has been published annually since1980.
Plays Produced
- One Simple Flower (1956)
- Port Harmony (1957)
- Switzerland (1967)
- The Rope Walk (1968)
- Rafferty One by One (1970)
- The Bernini Look (1981)
Books Published
- Washington (1955)
- The Imaged Word (1963)
- Ibsen: Four Major Plays (1965-70)
- Ibsen: A Collection of Critical Essays (1965)
- Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays (1978)