Kielland, Alexander Lange (1849-1906)

Norwegian novelist. He combines social criticism (of class differences in Garman og Worse 1880, of the hypocrisy of official Christianity in Skipper Worse 1882, and of the education system in Gift 1883) with an elegantly ironic style. His short stories, collected in Novelletter 1879 and Nye Novelletter 1880, show the range of his talents, from the incisively satirical to the gently poetic.

He was born in Stavanger. A rich factory owner from an aristocratic family, he was nevertheless a radical writer who attacked the establishment and the exploitation of the poor, as in Else 1881.