Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was a Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright who, together with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Alexander Kielland, is considered to have been one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature.
Lie in 1904
Jonas Lie. Engraving by Hans Peter Hansen (1874)
Jonas and Thomasine Lie monument at the cemetery in Stavern
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit". The first Norwegian Nobel laureate, he was a prolific polemicist and extremely influential in Norwegian public life and Scandinavian cultural debate. Bjørnson is considered to be one of the four great Norwegian writers, alongside Ibsen, Lie, and Kielland. He is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". The composer Fredrikke Waaler based a composition for voice and piano on a text by Bjørnson, as did Anna Teichmüller.
Bjørnson in 1909
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Karoline Bjørnson at Aulestad
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1908
Illustration from Vikingen of a telegram exchange between Michelsen and Bjørnson.