[Was it a physician Ibsen wanted to become?].
It is a widespread view, even today, that Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) as a young man intended to study medicine. This opinion was probably first expressed by his friend Paul Botten-Hansen in his Ibsen biography from 1863, when the poet was 35 years old. Since then, it has been repeated several times, for example in Henrik Jaeger's biography from 1888 and in Jens B. Halvorsen's Norwegian Author Encyclopedia from 1892. Ibsen proofread both of these books and did not change this information. Although the sources are weak, Ibsen may have wanted to study medicine. However, we do not know when he got this idea, for how long it occupied his mind or how deeply rooted it was. When Ibsen as a 22-year-old moved from Grimstad to Christiania in 1850 to complete his examen artium, he had other plans. This story illustrates an important message: What should we require from sources before we accept a piece of information?
Hem
Erlend
E
Avdeling for atferdsfag, Institutt for medisinske basalfag, Universitetet i Oslo, Postboks 1111 Blindern, 0317 Oslo. erlend.hem@medisin.uio.no
D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D010820:Physicians