Personal life

He was born in Trondhjem

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 as a son of physician Fredrik Waldemar Bødtker (1824-1901) and Sophie Jenssen (1830-1898). He was the brother of chemist Eyvind Bødtker

Eyvind Bødtker

Eyvind Bødtker was a Norwegian chemist. He spent most of his career at the University of Kristiania, where he was a professor from 1918.-Personal life:...

, a second cousin of military officer Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker

Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker

Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker was a Norwegian military officer, teacher and writer.-Personal life:Bødtker was born in Christiania, the son of district stipendiary magistrate Job Dischington Bødtker and his wife Fredrikke Sophie Sejersted...

, log driving manager Ragnvald Bødtker

Ragnvald Bødtker

Ragnvald Bødtker was a Norwegian engineer, known as the director of log driving in Halden for 42 years.-Personal life:...

 and County Governor Eivind Bødtker, and a second cousin once removed of banker and art collector Johannes Sejersted Bødtker

Johannes Sejersted Bødtker

Johannes Mathias Sejersted Bødtker CBE was a Norwegian banker, art collector and patron of the arts.-Early and personal life:...

 and radio personality Carl Bødtker

Carl Bødtker

Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker was a Norwegian engineer and radio personality.-Early and personal life:He was born at Oscarsborg Fortress as a son of Major General Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker and Karen Agathe Falck...

. His mother was a daughter of landowner Anthon Petersen Jenssen, and as such Bødtker was a grandson of Matz Jenssen

Matz Jenssen

Matz Jenssen was a Norwegian businessman.Originally a seamaster, Jenssen settled in Throndhjem in 1790. Here, he founded his own trading company Jenssen & Co, which evolved into a trade dynasty in the city. Upon his death in 1813, his wife Anna, née Schjelderup Dorenfeldt took over...

, nephew of Jens Nicolai, Hans Peter and Lauritz Dorenfeldt Jenssen

Lauritz Dorenfeldt Jenssen

Lauritz Dorenfeldt Jenssen was a Norwegian businessperson.He was born in Throndhjem as the son of businessman Matz Jenssen and his wife Anna, née Schjelderup Dorenfeldt...

 and first cousin of Christian Mathias, Anthon Mathias and Lauritz Jenssen

Lauritz Jenssen

Lauritz Jenssen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. A part of a notable business family based in and around Trondhjem, Jenssen founded Ranheims Papirfabrik, and also served one term in the Parliament of Norway....

.

He married Ingrid Blehr (1881–1959) in July 1901; they divorced in 1910. Through his wife's sister he was a brother-in-law of Gunnar Heiberg

Gunnar Heiberg

Gunnar Edvard Rode Heiberg was a Norwegian poet, playwright, journalist and theatre critic.-Personal life:...

.

Career

He finished

Examen artium

Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...

 his secondary education in 1884, and enrolled in law studies at the University of Kristiania

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

. His 1888 literary debut, the poetry collection Elskov ('Love'), was ill-received. He was found guilty of "seduction", a breach of the by-laws of the University. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court of Norway

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

, and he was relegated for one year. It was his first and last work of fiction, and he instead concentrated on studies for the rest of the period and graduated with the cand.jur. degree from the University of Kristiania

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 in 1891.

In 1896 he was hired as a secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of the Interior. More importantly however, from the same year he worked as a theatre critic for the newspaper Morgenbladet

Morgenbladet

Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...

. Then, after a period in Verdens Gang

Verdens Gang (1868-1923 newspaper)

Verdens Gang is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1868 to 1923.It was established as a weekly magazine in 1868, later expanded to three issues a week, and was issued daily from 1885. It was the most widespread political newspaper in Norway for many years, and had considerable...

he followed Olaf Thommessen to the new newspaper Tidens Tegn

Tidens Tegn

Tidens Tegn is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941.-Editors:The founder and first editor-in-chief of Tidens Tegn was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Thommessen had recently left the editor chair of Verdens Gang in protest, bringing much of Verdens...

. Bødtker worked for Tidens Tegn in two periods, intercepted by a brief tenure in Aftenposten

Aftenposten

Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...

. Bødtker did work as a secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture from 1900 to 1903, but then became a full-time theatre critic—Norway's first. His critic pieces were later published in three volumes, the first two by Einar Skavlan

Einar Skavlan

Einar Kielland Skavlan was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor, theatre critic and theatre director....

 in 1923 and 1924 and the last by Anton Rønneberg

Anton Rønneberg

Anton Johan Rønneberg was a Norwegian writer, theatre critic, dramaturg and theatre director.Rønneberg was a theatre critic for several Oslo newspapers: Norges Kommunistblad in 1924, Middagsavisen from 1925 to 1927, Morgenbladet from 1928 to 1930 and Aftenposten...

 in 1929.

In 1905 Bødtker agitated for dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden through a pamphlet. He died in March 1928 in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

.