Axel Jensen
| Axel Jensen | |
|---|---|
Axel Jensen by the piano. Photo: Robert E. Haraldsen
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| Born |
Axel Buchardt Jensen 12 February 1932 Trondheim, Norway |
| Died | 13 February 2003 (aged 71) Ålefjær, Kristiansand, Norway |
| Cause of death | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouse(s) |
Marianne Ihlen (1958–?) Pratibha (1974–2003) |
Axel Buchardt Jensen (12 February 1932 – 13 February 2003) was a Norwegian author. From 1957 until 2002, he published both fiction and non-fiction texts which include novels, poems, essays, a biography, and manuscripts for cartoons and animated films.
Jensen was born in Trondheim. He first made his debut as a novelist in Oslo in 1955 with the novel Dyretemmerens kors (1955), but he later burned the remaining unsold books.
In 1958 he and his then girlfriend, later wife,Marianne Ihlen, lived on the Greek island of Hydra, where Jensen developed a friendship with the Canadian musician and poet Leonard Cohen. Cohen and Marianne lived together on Hydra for a couple of years after the break-up between her and Jensen, and later moved to Montreal. There is widespread belief that the character Lorenzo in the novel Joacim (1961) is modeled after Cohen, but Jensen also told Cohen that Lorenzo was modeled after the Swedish novelist Göran Tunström.
After some time, Jensen returned to Norway and settled in Fredrikstad. There, Noel Cobb, an English poet and student of psychology, came to interview him. Soon he became sexually involved with Lena. Axel then left Fredrikstad to live in London.
Jensen suffered from severe depression after the break-up with Lena, but in London, he met the psychiatrist R. D. Laing and received therapy from him. After recovering, Jensen worked as an assistant at the institution Kingsley Hall. Laing remained a close friend for the rest of his life.
While attending an environmental conference in in 1972, Axel met Pratibha, whom he married in India. After returning to Sweden, the couple lived in Vaxholm, outside , where they bought an old freighter, built in 1905, which they renamed S/Y Shanti Devi. The ship was named after Pratibha's mother and means "The Goddess of Peace".
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