Hamsun Knut

Hamsun Knut  (1859-1952),Norwegian writer. Nobel Prize winner (1920). His autonym was Knud Pedersen. He was born in Lom, Norway. He was fond of travel. In 1899 he took a trip to the Caucasus and visited Georgia. In Tbilisi K. Hamsun lived in the Orbeliani Quarter, where he stayed at the Hotel ‘London’ (currently – No.31 Atoneli Street). After his travels in Georgia, he wrote a play Queen Tamar and a book of impressions In a Farytale Country (1903).

K. Hamsun was charmed by Georgia and its architectural monuments – Svetitskhoveli, Jvari and others. In his book he described Tbilisi with its streets and quarters; he was fascinated by the oriental bazaar, the rows of artisans, blacksmiths and innkeepers. He was amazed by the work of carpet makers, who wove beautiful carpets on the spot, in the presence of customers. Georgian alphabet and curvy shape of Georgian letters was a genuine revelation to him. ‘However, the most amazing thing is Georgian letters’, K. Hamsun wrote: ‘I don’t belive that Europeans and Americans are in way superior to these people’.

Knut Hamsun died in Grimstad, Norway. His ashes were buried in the garden of his estate at Nørholm.