Johan Fredrik Paasche (born Amundsen; 3 February 1886 – 1 September 1943) was a Norwegian educator, author and literary historian.

Biography

Johan Fredrik Amundsen was born in

Bindal Municipality Bindal is a municipality in the Helgeland region in the extreme southwest part of Nordland county, Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Terråk. Other villages include Bindalseidet, Holm, Vassås, Horsfjord and Åbygda. The ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county, Norway. He was the son of Olaf Kristian Amundsen (1850–1910) and Kirsten Birgitte Paasche (1850–1915). His brother Olaf Amundsen served as County Governor of Nordland. In 1905, he took his mother's surname, Paasche. He graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in 1910. In 1916, he traveled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where he was a war correspondent. He was appointed a professor of European literature in 1920 at the

and professor of Middle Age literature from 1938 until 1940. He relocated to Sweden following the German invasion of Norway. From 1941 onward, he was affiliated with

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, where he received an honorary doctorate in theology. He co-edited the series ''Norsk litteraturhistorie'', planned jointly with Francis Bull from 1911. He wrote volume one (on Norway's and Iceland's literature until the end of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, published from 1923 to 1926) and volume three (on Norwegian literature from 1814 to the 1850s, published from 1927 to 1932). In 1922, he was awarded the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

(''Kongens Fortjenstmedalje''). His other books include ''Gildet paa Solhaug. Ibsens nationalromantiske digtning'' (1908), ''Luther'' (1917), ''Goethe'' (1918), ''Kong Sverre'' (1920), ''Snorre Sturlason og Sturlungerne'' (1922) and ''Landet med de mørke skibene'' (1938). He was married twice, each time to a Swedish woman. In 1916, he married Agnes Viveka Aimée Hamilton (1891–1917), a daughter of Count Hugo E. G. Hamilton. In 1928, he married Eva Kristina Mörner (1889–1992). He died in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paasche, Fredrik 1886 births 1943 deaths People from Bindal University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of Uppsala University Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian literary historians Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit