A talented writer of poems, fairytales, songs, and even a novel, Hans Andrias Djurhuus was born 20 October 1883 in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Hans was the young brother of Janus Djurhuus, the subject of last week's blog post (click HERE).
Han's first job after completing his schooling was working as a fisherman. But fishing was just not in his blood. He hung up the fishing rod and returned to furthering his studies. He attended Føroya Fólkaháskúli, then studied at the Teachers Seminar (Føroya Læraraskúli). After graduating in 1905, he started working as a teacher. This vocation seemed to suit him well. During his years as a teacher he wrote many children's songs, a bunch of plays, short stories, psalms, and even a novel. But poetry was his primary passion. In fact, his great grandfather, Jens Christian Djurhuus (1773–1853), was the first to write poems in the Faroese language. Poetry was in the family's blood. And Hans went on to be considered one of the most productive Faroese poets in the long history of the islands. Very imprressive!
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On 28 May 1984, Faroe Islands issued a set of four stamps honouring great Faroese writers. This set was engraved by Czeslaw Slania. One of the stamps in this set features Hans Andrias Djurhuus. This stamp - like last week's stamp - exhibits a photo-realistic style synonymous with the engraving genius of Slania. Although, as I mentioned in my previous two blogs dealing with this set of stamps, I tend to prefer more interpretive styles of engraving over photo-realism. There is no denying, however, that they are truly stunning! It's now time to take a look-see at the final stamp of the Famous Writers set, that featuring Hans Andrias Djurhuus.
Until next time...
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