Rolf Stenersen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rolf Stenersen
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| Born |
Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen
13 February 1899 Kristiania, Norway
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| Died | 15 October 1978 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation | businessman, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer, track and field athlete and art collector |
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Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen (born February 13, 1899 – died October 15, 1978) was a Norwegian businessman and writer. He was also a talented athlete and a big collector of art. He is especially known for being a friend and financial advisor to the famous painter Edvard Munch.
Early Life and Sports
Rolf Stenersen was born in Kristiania, Norway. His father, Johan Martin Stenersen, was a bookseller. Rolf went to the Kristiania Commerce School and later studied at Queen's College, Oxford, in England.
Before becoming a well-known businessman, Rolf was a successful athlete. He was a Norwegian champion in the 200-meter race in 1919 and 1920. He also won a championship in the 4 x 100-meter relay race in 1920. He even competed for Norway in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, where he ran in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4 x 100-meter relay events.
Business and Art Collecting
Rolf Stenersen was very good with money from a young age. He started working on the stock market as a teenager. In 1925, he started his own business, A/S Stenersen og Waage, which dealt with rubber and the Dutch stock market.
He became good friends with the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch in the 1920s. Rolf helped Munch with his finances and collected many of Munch's artworks. He gathered one of the largest private collections of Munch's paintings. In 1926, he even put on an exhibition to show his art collection, which featured works by Munch and another artist named Ludvig Karsten.
Rolf also wrote books about money and essays about artists like Edvard Munch. His first fiction book was a collection of short stories published in 1931.
Giving Back and Later Life
In 1936, Rolf Stenersen gave his collection of Norwegian art to the city of Aker (now part of Oslo). This collection is now shown at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo, which opened in 1994.
During World War II, his books were banned by the Nazi government in 1941, and he had to escape to Sweden. In 1944, he wrote a biography about Edvard Munch, which became very popular and was translated into many languages.
In 1924, Rolf married Inger Johanne Martinsen. They lived in a special house called Villa Stenersen, which was designed by the famous architect Arne Korsmo. This house is a great example of a modern architectural style called functionalism.
Rolf Stenersen received several important awards for his contributions. He was honored as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1953 and later as a Commander in 1974. He also received the St. Hallvard Medal in 1977.
He passed away in Bergen in 1978. He continued to be generous with his art. In 1971, he donated his collection of foreign art to the city of Bergen, which opened to the public in 1978. He also gave Villa Stenersen to the Norwegian government to be used as an official residence.
