Voting Station

Knut Hamsun

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Author

The Resume

    (August 4, 1859-February 19, 1952)
    Born in Vaga, Norway
    Birth name was Knud Pederson
    Wrote 'Hunger' (1890), 'Mysteries' (1892), 'Pan' (1894), 'In Wonderland' (1903) and 'Growth of the Soil' (1917)
    Won the Nobel Prize in Literature (1920)

Why he might be annoying:

    He got drunk during the Nobel Prize ceremony, pulled the whiskers of one member of the Prize committee and snapped his fingers against the corset of fellow Norwegian author Sigrid Undset and declared, 'It sounds like a bell buoy.'
    He supported Germany during World War II and gave his Nobel Prize to Joseph Goebbels.
    He wrote an obituary of Hitler calling him 'a warrior for mankind,' 'a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations' and 'a reformer of the highest sort.'
    He avoided going to prison as a collaborator when he was ruled to have 'permanently impaired mental abilities.'
    Despite those 'impaired' mental abilities, he managed to write the book 'On Overgrown Paths' (1949).

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a child, he had to work for his father's brother-in-law to pay off a family debt.
    Isaac Bashevis Singer said, 'The whole school of fiction in the 20th century stems from Hamsun.'
    Although he avoided jail, he was fined 325,000 kroner for his WWII activities.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 75.86% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 57 Votes: 66.67% Annoying