Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen

Born in Svelvik, Norway, in 1855, he built a successful career in the timber trade and later became a public figure in Fredrikstad and Oslo. Alongside his business work, he also served in politics as a representative of the Conservative Party.

As a writer, he published fiction under the pseudonym Elias Kræmmer. His best-known work in English is Dry Fish and Wet: Tales from a Norwegian Seaport, a collection that draws on Norwegian coastal settings and captures the character, humor, and hardships of local life.

That mix of practical experience and literary observation gives his writing a grounded, human feel. He died in 1936, leaving behind a body of work that connects Norwegian social history with warm, sharply observed storytelling.