Arnulf Øverland

Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968), a poet, author of numerous patriotic verses written during the war and disseminated in secret throughout the country, a writer and essayist. Already before the war he called for condemnation of Fascism and Nazism. He was an atheist and a leftist (until 1937 – a Communist). In 1938 he received a national artist fee. For his anti-German activity he was imprisoned in the Grini camp, and later sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After his return he lived in the “Grotto” until his death. Conservative in his views on poetry, after the war he took part in a debate on the shape of Norwegian language, opting for its most conservative form. During the end of his life his poetry started to shift towards modernism. In the years 1951-1953 he was the Chairman of the Norwegian Writers Association.