Waldemar Hammenhög | |
---|---|
Born | Per Waldemar Hammenhög 18 April 1902 Stockholm, Sweden |
Died | 1 November 1972 Stockholm, Sweden | (aged 70)
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | Swedish |
Notable works | Esther och Albert (1930) Pettersson & Bendel (1931) Torken (1951) Omne animal (1952) |
Per Waldemar Hammenhög (18 April 1902 – 1 November 1972) was a Swedish writer and novelist. [1] The trivial, petty bourgeois urban environment forms the basis of many of his early realistic novels, whereas his later works turned towards religious and moral issues. [2] Writing more than 40 novels, Hammenhög is probably best known for Pettersson & Bendel (1931), a humorous novel adapted twice to screen. [3]
Born in Stockholm in 1902 as Waldemar Anderson, [4] he was the son of foreman Per Anderson and his wife Lydia Källgren. [4] After graduating from the Högre realläroverket å Östermalm high school in Stockholm in 1919, [4] Hammenhög worked as an office boy, [4] and later office clerk until 1930. [1] He left his job as a clerk after he was awarded first-prize in a novel competition organized by the Stockholm-based publishing house Natur & Kultur with his debut novel Esther och Albert. [1] He submitted the text under the pseudonym "Hammenhög", which became his official name in 1931. [5]
Among Hammenhög's writing highlights is the humorous novel Petterson & Bendel (1931), adapted to screen in 1933 starring Adolf Jahr as Pettersson; and as P&B (1983) starring Stellan Skarsgård as Petterson and Allan Edwall as Bendel. Esther och Alberts äktenskap (1936) was also a success, adapted to screen as Ung man söker sällskap (1954), starring Ulf Palme and Gaby Stenberg. [6]
In the late 1940s, Hammenhög's writing turned from realistic humor towards moral issues as he was struggling with personal alcoholism. [3] His writing reached a turning point with Torken (1951), [7] a novel about the failure of traditional alcoholic care. The novel is sometimes regarded as Hammenhög's second breakthrough as a novelist. [2] A year later, Hammenhög published Omne animal (1952), a novel which implied that Hammenhög was heading toward Roman Catholicism. Most novels that followed often focused on religious and moral issues. [2]
Hammenhög's early commercial success as a productive novelist [5] led to an extravagant lifestyle, and severe alcoholism. [3] For years, alcoholic problems influenced his writing which was largely devastated by superficiality and haste. [8] Later in life, Hammenhög became a "sober alcoholic". [3] In that capacity, he frequently spoke in public about issues related to his alcoholism. [3] [8]
Writing in newspapers, his signature was W H-g. [1] [4] Hammenhög died in Stockholm in 1972 at the age of 70. [1] He is buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery, a part of the Norra begravningsplatsen Cemetery in Solna Municipality north of Stockholm. [9]
Waldemar Hammenhög | |
---|---|
Born | Per Waldemar Hammenhög 18 April 1902 Stockholm, Sweden |
Died | 1 November 1972 Stockholm, Sweden | (aged 70)
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | Swedish |
Notable works | Esther och Albert (1930) Pettersson & Bendel (1931) Torken (1951) Omne animal (1952) |
Per Waldemar Hammenhög (18 April 1902 – 1 November 1972) was a Swedish writer and novelist. [1] The trivial, petty bourgeois urban environment forms the basis of many of his early realistic novels, whereas his later works turned towards religious and moral issues. [2] Writing more than 40 novels, Hammenhög is probably best known for Pettersson & Bendel (1931), a humorous novel adapted twice to screen. [3]
Born in Stockholm in 1902 as Waldemar Anderson, [4] he was the son of foreman Per Anderson and his wife Lydia Källgren. [4] After graduating from the Högre realläroverket å Östermalm high school in Stockholm in 1919, [4] Hammenhög worked as an office boy, [4] and later office clerk until 1930. [1] He left his job as a clerk after he was awarded first-prize in a novel competition organized by the Stockholm-based publishing house Natur & Kultur with his debut novel Esther och Albert. [1] He submitted the text under the pseudonym "Hammenhög", which became his official name in 1931. [5]
Among Hammenhög's writing highlights is the humorous novel Petterson & Bendel (1931), adapted to screen in 1933 starring Adolf Jahr as Pettersson; and as P&B (1983) starring Stellan Skarsgård as Petterson and Allan Edwall as Bendel. Esther och Alberts äktenskap (1936) was also a success, adapted to screen as Ung man söker sällskap (1954), starring Ulf Palme and Gaby Stenberg. [6]
In the late 1940s, Hammenhög's writing turned from realistic humor towards moral issues as he was struggling with personal alcoholism. [3] His writing reached a turning point with Torken (1951), [7] a novel about the failure of traditional alcoholic care. The novel is sometimes regarded as Hammenhög's second breakthrough as a novelist. [2] A year later, Hammenhög published Omne animal (1952), a novel which implied that Hammenhög was heading toward Roman Catholicism. Most novels that followed often focused on religious and moral issues. [2]
Hammenhög's early commercial success as a productive novelist [5] led to an extravagant lifestyle, and severe alcoholism. [3] For years, alcoholic problems influenced his writing which was largely devastated by superficiality and haste. [8] Later in life, Hammenhög became a "sober alcoholic". [3] In that capacity, he frequently spoke in public about issues related to his alcoholism. [3] [8]
Writing in newspapers, his signature was W H-g. [1] [4] Hammenhög died in Stockholm in 1972 at the age of 70. [1] He is buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery, a part of the Norra begravningsplatsen Cemetery in Solna Municipality north of Stockholm. [9]