Editing Peter Wessel Zapffe (section)

== Personal life ==
Son of the apothecary Fritz Gottlieb Zapffe and Gudrun Wessel, Zapffe was related on his maternal side to the Danish-Norwegian vice-admiral [[Peter Tordenskjold]].<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Arne Næss - ny rute går i hele venstre profil (mot luften). 1937. Tysfjord, Stetind.jpg|alt=Ascent to the Stetind with Arne Næss, 1937. Photographic work|thumb|220x220px|Ascent to the [[Stetind]] with [[Arne Næss]], 1937]]
In [[Oslo|Kristiania]], in 1921, Zapffe learned for the first time about mountaineering, beginning with climbing challenges in Bærum, in Kolsås, the first mountain he climbed. In 1924 he was the first person to climb the top of Tommeltott in Ullsfjorden; in 1925, the Småting (south side) in Kvaløya; and the Bentsjordtind between Malangen and Balsfjorden. And in the same year: Okshorn, Snekollen and Mykkjetind were climbed. In 1926 it was a summit in Senja and also the Hollenderan summit in Kvaløya, first trodden by him: in 1987 the highest peak of the Hollenderan in Kvaløya was named after him. Today the summit is called "Zapffes tind" ('the top of Zapffe'). In 1928, Zapffe climbed the first summit of Skamtinden and was also the first to climb the front side of Svolværgeita.<ref name=":2" />

In 1940 Zapffe applied to the [[Norsk Tindeklub]]b but was rejected. However, in 1965 he was accepted into a mountaineering society but as an honorary member, and again in 1987 in a mountaineering club from Tromsø.<ref name=":2" />

In 1928, due to a storm, [[Umberto Nobile]]'s zeppelin, the ''Italia'', [[Italia (airship)#Crash|crashed]] on the way back to Italy. [[Roald Amundsen]] (a friend of the Zapffe family) and Zapffe assisted in the rescue of the zeppelin crew. There, Zappfe served as interpreter for the expedition. Later on the [[icebreaker]] DS «Isbjørn», Zapffe served as German interpreter, his father was also on board: the expedition was then to search for the missing Amundsen, but was unsuccessful.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Zapffe left Tromsø on June 5, 1929. He found a room on Erling Skjalgssøns street in Kristiania, living quite frugally and in a mentally catastrophic state: "The idea of death as the greatest consolation and escape, and which is always at hand, penetrates me with even greater force".<ref name=":2" />

Similar to [[Emil Cioran]], he lived from 1978 on a state pension. In 1987 he received the Honor Award from the Fritt Ord Foundation for "the original and versatile character of his literary work".<ref name=":2" />

In his last years of life, when he was frequently visited by journalists, he had an interview with ''Asker og Bærum Budstikke'', in which he described himself as a nihilist: "I am not a pessimist. I am a nihilist. Namely, not a pessimist in the sense that I have upsetting apprehensions, but a nihilist in a sense that is not moral".<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Stereoscop, 1949 by Peter Wessel Zapffe.jpg|alt=Zapffe with camera, 1949.|left|thumb|220x220px|Zapffe with camera, 1949]]
Zapffe's hobbies were varied, showing an early enthusiasm for painting. However, photography occupied him since the age of 12 through his father (himself a photographer), who lent his photographic equipment to his son. This also meant a kind of compensation for his myopia. The impact of his work as a photographer can be seen reflected in his work ''Rough Joys'' (1969), where it seems that he reconstructs [[Ekphrasis|ekphrase]] from his photographic documentation during his trips to the mountains. Much of his photographic production is currently cultural heritage.<ref name=":2" />

Zapffe married Bergljot Espolin Johnsen in 1935; they divorced in 1941. He married Berit Riis Christensen in 1952, they remained together until his death in 1990; Berit died in May 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Peter Wessel Zapffe|url=http://www.hemneslekt.net/getperson.php?personID=I119009&tree=Hemne|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Hemneslekt|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008160246/http://www.hemneslekt.net/getperson.php?personID=I119009&tree=Hemne|url-status=dead}}</ref> Zapffe remained [[Voluntary childlessness|childless by choice]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9780816621507|title=Wisdom in the Open Air: The Norwegian Roots of Deep Ecology|publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]|year=1993|isbn=978-0-8166-2150-7|editor-last=Reed|editor-first=Peter|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|pages=56|language=en|chapter=Peter Wessel Zapffe|editor-last2=Rothenberg|editor-first2=David}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was lifelong friends with the Norwegian philosopher and fellow mountaineer, [[Arne Næss]].<ref name="bio">{{Cite web|title=Biography of Peter Wessel Zapffe|url=https://openairphilosophy.org/peter-wessel-zapffe/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Open Air Philosophy|language=en-US}}</ref>