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taken from deen’s blog

Jostein Gaarder, writer who changed so many lives….

Jostein Gaarder (lahir 8 Agustus 1952) adalah seorang penulis novel, cerita pendek dan buku anak-anak dari Norwegia.

Gaarder dilahirkan di Oslo, Norwegia, di keluarga yang berpendidikan. Dia mempelajari bahasa-bahasa Skandinavia dan Teologi di University of Oslo. Sebelum memulai karir menulisnya, dia mengajar filsafat.

Karyanya yang paling terkenal adalah Dunia Sophie, dengan subtitel Sebuah Novel Tentang Sejarah Filsafat. Buku ini sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam limapuluhtiga bahasa; duapuluhenam juta eksemplar tercetak, dengan tiga juta eksemplar terjual di Jerman saja.

Pada tahun 1997, dia mendirikan Sophie Prize bersama istrinya, Siri Danneviq. Penghargaan internasional ini diberikan kepada perjuangan untuk pembangunan masyarakan dan pelestarian lingkungan, sebesar US$ 100,000, yang diberikan setiap tahun. Penghargaan ini dinamai sesuai dengan novelnya Dunia Sophie.

(Dari Wikipedia Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas berbahasa Indonesia.)

BIOGRAPHY
Jostein Gaarder was born in Oslo, Norway in 1952. His parents’ occupations presaged his own interests in teaching and writing — his father was a headmaster and his mother a teacher and author of children’s books. Gaarder attended the Oslo Katerdralskole and the University of Oslo, where he studied Scandinavian languages and theology.

Following his 1974 marriage, Gaarder began to write, contributing to several textbooks on philosophy and theology. His family moved to Bergen in 1981, where he began to teach high school philosophy, a post he held for several years. His first fiction book, Diagnosen og andre noveller (The Diagnosis and Other Stories) was published in 1986. Two books for children followed, Barna fra Sukhavati (The Children from Sukhavati, 1987) and Froskeslottet (The Frog Castle, 1988) before the publication of Kabalmysteriet (The Solitaire Mystery) in 1990. Kabalmysteriet won both the Norwegian Literary Critics’ Award and the Ministry of Cultural and Scientific Affairs Literary Prize.

Sofies verden (Sophie’s World) followed in 1991 and was a gigantic success. For three years running it was Norway’s number one best-seller, and it repeated this success in nearly every country in which it appeared. To date, the book has been published in 45 languages and was the best-selling fiction book in the world in 1995, an astonishing achievement for what is essentially a textbook in the form of a novel.

The success of Sophie’s World allowed Gaarder to become a full-time writer. It also allowed him to become a philanthropist. In 1997 Gaarder and wife Siri Dannevig formed the Sofie Foundation to promote a sustainable environment. The foundation annually awards the Sophie Prize, worth $100,000 US to “an individual or an organization that in a pioneering or a particularly creative way, has pointed to alternatives to the present development and/or put such alternatives into practice.”

Gaarder continues to publish a new book every one to two years. Gaarder, Siri, and their two sons live in Oslo.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaarder’s primary publisher is H. Ashehoug & Company of Oslo, Norway. They maintain a complete list of his (fiction) books here.

* Diagnosen og andre noveller (The Diagnosis and Other Stories). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1986. (stories)

* Froskeslottet (The Frog Castle). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1988. (children’s book)

* Kabalmysteriet (The Solitaire Mystery). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1990. (novel)

* Sofies verden (Sophie’s World). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1991. (novel)

* Julemysteriet (The Christmas Mystery). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1992. (novel).

* I et speil, i en gåte (Through a Glass, Darkly). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1993. (novel)

* Hallo? Er det noen her? (Hello? Is Anybody There?). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1996. (children’s book)

* Vita Brevis (That Same Flower). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1996. (novella)

* Maya. Oslo: Aschehoug, 1999. (novel)

* Sirkusdirektørens datter (The Ringmaster’s Daughter). Oslo: Aschehoug, 2001. (novel)

(dari Biografi Jostein Gaarder)