Norwegian author Ingvar Ambjørnsen, known for blending a sharp, sometimes dark tone with humor and empathy to portray the lives of the oppressed and vulnerable, has passed away at the age of 69, his publisher announced. The Cappelen Damm publishing house did not disclose the cause of death, though Ambjørnsen had been open about his long struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
According to Norwegian tabloid VG, Ambjørnsen is survived by his wife, Gabriele Haefs, who shared the news of his passing on Saturday.
Born on May 20, 1956, in Tönsberg—often called “Norway’s most bar-filled town” on his German-language author website—Ambjørnsen grew up in Larvik and held various jobs in industry and psychiatry before releasing his first documentary novel in 1981. In 1985, he relocated to Hamburg, where he lived for many years.
His publisher described his work as featuring vivid, realistic depictions of life’s harsher realities. Ambjørnsen gained widespread recognition with a series of four novels centered on the character Elling, a shy and imaginative outsider adjusting to life after leaving a psychiatric hospital.
The comedic story of “Elling,” about two former mental patients sharing an apartment in Oslo, earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001. The story was later adapted into a Broadway play in 2010 starring Denis O’Hare and Brendan Fraser, exploring the quirky lives of the two men—one preoccupied with his mother, the other obsessed with sex.
Ambjørnsen’s body of work includes 18 novels, three short story collections, and several books for children and young adults. A new collection of short stories is scheduled for release in Norway on July 31.
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