Maren-Sofie Røstvig (27 March 1920 – 24 January 2014) was a Norwegian literary historian. Her doctoral thesis from 1950 treated English poetry from the 17th century.

Early life and World War II

She was born in Melbu in Hadsel, a daughter of Olaf Røstvig and Sigrid Elise Larsen. Røstvig was a student during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, and took part in the civil resistance. She was arrested in October 1943, and was incarcerated in Bredtveit Prison for about six weeks. From August 1944 to May 1945 she published the illegal weekly newspaper ''Frihet og fred'' (34 issues), along with two other women.

Career

Røstvig obtained a doctorate in historical treatise on English poetry in the 17th-century from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

. Her treatise was later expanded and published as the first volume of ''The Happy Man'' (1954). The second volume, which covers the 1700s, was published in 1958. Røstvig has also conducted research on text structures in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

literature and identifying their literature theoretical background. In her book ''Configurations'' (1994), she explored the formal elements of European poetry, with special focus on the works of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for '' The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen o ...

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...

. She was appointed professor of English literature at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

from 1968 to 1987. She was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

from 1963. She resided at

Huk Chris Loranger, better known name HuK, is a former professional ''Starcraft II'' player and former president of gaming for the Boston Uprising of the Overwatch League. Loranger spent most of his ''Starcraft II'' career playing for Evil Geniuses ...

in Oslo, where she survived an all-consuming fire in 1999. She died in January 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rostvig, Maren-Sofie 1920 births 2014 deaths People from Hadsel Norwegian resistance members Female resistance members of World War II Norwegian women in World War II Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Norwegian literary historians Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian expatriates in the United States University of California, Berkeley alumni