Hans Aleksander Hansen

Portrait Statue of

The Lyricist and homeless person Hans Aleksander Hansen

unveiled 19 August 2021

in the amphitheater at Portalen, Drammen

PRESS RELEASE

Statue OF Hans Alexander Hansen

The “vagrant author” hung around at Grønland in Drammen most of his life. Nearly 40 years after his death, Hans Alexander Hansen, aka Singer-Hans, is given a statue in his home town. The sculptor Merete Sejersted Bødtker plans to complete the work by early June, 2021. Union Eiendomsutvikling is financing the memorial which will be erected at Grønland – in the amphitheater linked to Brodahls Gummivarefabrik and the new building Portalen.

Hans Alexander Hansen was born at Jevnaker in 1911. Poverty, alcohol and crises impacted his early childhood. Responsibility for five children was a heavy burden on his mother, following a divorce. The guardian council placed the kids under the charge of farms. Six-year-old Hans Alexander and a sister were sent to the community’s combination poor house and old-folks-home. They were expected to pay for their room and board through work. The hard toil in winter forests saddled the young boy with a permanent distaste for manual labor.

After being confirmed he moved to Drammen where his mother now worked at a paper mill. Along with others who were jobless, alcohol and intoxication took hold. Whether Hans Alexander was in Drammen or other cities, it never took long before he was again behind bars. With his identity as a homeless person, he experienced his first stay at Opstad Forced Labor House at Jæren in 1934. By the time of his last release in 1963, he had spent 11 years there. Norwegian authorities had in the early phase of the 20th century used the forced labor penalties under the Vagrancy Act as a cure for alcoholism through physical labor and strict discipline. Insubordinance at Opstad could lead to solitary confinement in a dark cell. The curative effects of the scheme were modest. The same persons were routinely sent back for more of this punishment. But the discipline grew relaxed as the decades passed. One of the inmates was bursting to express himself poetically and was given better terms.

Hans Alexander Hansen had his debut in 1964 with the collection “Løsgjengerviser” (Vagrant Ballads) published by Gyldendal forlag. This and its follow-up “Det lyriske fattighus” (The Lyrical Poor House) are according to Bjørn Bjørnsen “perhaps the most important personal expressions we have from circles of homeless persons and alcoholics in Norway prior to 1970... in particular he conveys vulnerability and pain in people on the outside of accepted norms.” (Norsk biografisk leksikon, 2001, Our translation)

“Sanger-Hans” (Hans the singer) received loads of media attention and became a reference figure in contemporary public debates about the prison system and punishment.

Norway’s penal code regarding forced labor was revoked in 1970.

Hans Alexander Hansen enjoyed 13 good years at the end of his life in Sandefjord together with Borghild Christiansen. The books “Hotell for arbeidsskye”(Hotel for work evaders) and “Samfunnslære nederst ved bordet” (Social studies from the lowest rung) were published in this period. He died in the summer of 1983.

By reflecting the life situation of a fringe group, the ‘hobo author’s’ publications represent a unique piece of Norwegian social history.

For the Action Committee:

Nils Johan Rønniksen, Vidar Fjeldstad og Svein Winge