Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, born in Kvikne in 1832, is one of the most influential personalities of the 19th century and, alongside Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie and Alexander Kielland, is one of the ‘Big Four’ of Norwegian literature. He became involved as a journalist at an early age and took over the management of the theatre in Bergen in 1857, later the renowned Christiania Theatre. As a staunch supporter of Norwegian independence from Sweden, democratic reforms and the introduction of the Landsmål, he was instrumental in the cultural and political renewal of his country. His poem Ja, vi elsker dette landet (1864) became Norway's national anthem. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903. He spent his last years in Paris, where he died in 1910.