Rolf Fjelde, 76; Teacher, Writer Translated Ibsen Plays
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Rolf Fjelde, 76, a teacher and writer who translated Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s works into English, died Tuesday at his home in White Plains, N.Y. The cause of death was not announced.
Fjelde translated 12 of Ibsen’s plays, including “A Doll’s House” and “Hedda Gabler” and the verse play “Peer Gynt.”
Fjelde tried to bring Ibsen to a contemporary American audience, and was critical of freehand adaptations and translations from the past.
Fjelde, who was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Yale and Columbia universities, was a founding editor of the Yale Poetry Review and Poetry New York. He was also the founding president of the Ibsen Society of America and the editor of the organization’s newsletter.
Fjelde was also a drama teacher at the Juilliard School and at the Pratt Institute, where he taught for more than 40 years.
He was awarded the Norwegian Royal Medal of St. Olaf in 1991.
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