Your excellency, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be here in beautiful Monterenzio and to participate in the inauguration of Monterenzio’s new municipal library, dedicated to the Norwegian poet and politician Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. The Norwegian government considers it a great honour that the municipal library in Monterenzio is to be dedicated to one of the Norwegian national poets. This signifies that Bjørnson is appreciated also outside of Norway’s borders.

I would first like to thank Mayor Liviano Malaguti for his initiative to establish a cultural exchange agreement with the city of Molde. The fact that Monterenzio with this agreement has taken the initiative to facilitate the translation of Bjørnson’s works from Norwegian to Italian, through the establishment of a fund, is also greatly appreciated by the Norwegian State.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson is considered to be one of the “four great” Norwegian writers of his time. He is still one of our best known and most beloved poets. All Norwegians know at least one of his works by heart, especially since he is the author of our national anthem. Bjørnson was also the first Norwegian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. He received this prize in 1903, the year before he spent the summer in Monterenzio.

Bjørnson was not only a great poet; he was also a strong critic of society - a radical man with great concern for the poor and the oppressed. He has been described as an opportunist, but in fact he just spoke his mind and did not change his views, even when he was strongly opposed. The fact that he so strongly advocated what he believed in, is perhaps one of the traits he is best known for.

Like many of his contemporary writers, poets and artists, Bjørnson had a great love of Italy. He lived in Rome for two long periods – once in his 30’s and once in his 40’s. Throughout the rest of his life he continued to travel to Italy and Rome. He often spent the deep winters in Rome, together with his wife Karoline and children, travelling to more rural parts of Italy in the warmer summer months. His summer in Monterenzio is an example of this. He had spent the winter in Rome, but wanted to get away from the city during the summer. He chose Monterenzio because a friend recommended it, and his letters home describe a pleasant and comfortable summer stay.

Both Bjørnson and his wife enjoyed the Italian way of living, and arriving in Italy was often described as a relief – all worries and political thoughts were left behind in Norway – in Italy he was “just” an author. He once described his wife as being carefree when in Italy and it is easy to imagine Bjørnson himself more carefree, and less of the politician, when away from the bustles of political life in Norway.

Still, Bjørnson the politician and Bjørnson the writer are two sides of the same person, and he never quite let go of his political self, even when in Italy. You are all probably familiar with Bjørnsons involvement in the case of the murdered doctor (Mori case), while spending the summer in Monterenzio. Bjørnson’s criticism of the press for taking only the side against the doctor’s widow, and his arguing the importance of impartialness – the importance of not judging someone in advance – was typical of Bjørnson. Throughout his life his impulse to advocate the rights of those in need and of those who had no voice of their own was so strong, that when he observed situations where he felt that a party was being wronged, he instantly threw himself into the battle, writing newspaper articles and arguing strongly for his point of view.

Another case that very clearly illustrates this need not only to fight for the weak but to take a stand against what he meant was wrong was when his friend and fellow poet Kielland in 1885 was refused poet’s pension (pay) from the Norwegian state. Bjørnson not only condemned this, he also relinquished his own poet’s pension in protest. When looking at this act of protest it is also important to remember that Bjørnson was not a particularly wealthy man, and therefore had an actual need for this pension to continue his work.

Even though Bjørnsons literary works mainly describe the Norwegian country-life, his stays in Italy were highly necessary to give him the peace and time he needed to collect his thoughts. At times the current political quarrels in Norway took so much of his attention that he had no time left to write. To collect new impressions for use in his writing he had to get away from home. Bjørnson, like many of his contemporary writers and artists, used his stays in Italy to fulfil this need for withdrawal and contemplation, to renew his strength and to find the peace and quiet he needed to put his thoughts down on paper. These stays therefore proceed or coincide with some of his most productive periods.

Considering the importance Italy had to Bjørnson as the place to be inspired, to write and to just be a poet, it seems very appropriate that in this country there is now a library dedicated to him. On behalf of the Norwegian government I will congratulate the city of Monterenzio, mayor Malaguti.

‘E un grande onore per me dichiarare la biblioteca di Bjørnson aperta.

(It is therefore an honour for me to declare the Bjørnson library in Monterenzio open).