Hans Osterfeld "H.O." Lange (13 October 1863 – 15 January 1943) was a Danish librarian and

egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

. He was chief librarian at the Royal Danish Library.

Biography

Lange was born in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

to Hans and Catherine Lange. He expressed interest in

hieroglyphics Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters.I ...

as a young man. He graduated from

Aarhus Cathedral School Aarhus Katedralskole is a cathedral school, an institution of secondary education, a Danish Gymnasium and a listed building in Aarhus, Denmark. The school is situated in the neighborhood Midtbyen, in the Latin Quarter, bounded by the streets Mej ...

in 1881 and studied at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

graduating in 1882. In 1883, he was hired at the

Copenhagen University Library The Copenhagen University Library (Danish language, Danish: Københavns Universitetsbibliotek) in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the main research library of the University of Copenhagen. Founded in 1482, it is the oldest library in Denmark. The old mai ...

and in 1885 he joined the

Royal Danish Library Royal Danish Library () is a merger of the two previous national libraries in Denmark: the State and University Library in Aarhus and the Royal Library in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, wit ...

. From 1899 to 1900 he was employed at the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

in Cairo. He became Chief Librarian at the Royal Danish Library in 1901 and served in that role through 1924. He showed great interest in

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

and increased the library's collection in that area during his tenure. In 1918 he received an Honorary Doctorate from

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

. In 1927 he became a member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

. In 1906 having become a knight in the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. He also became a knight of the

Order of Saint Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

. Since 2001, the Royal Library of Denmark has awarded an annual H.O. Lange Prize in his memory.

Publications

*
Danish Research Libraries
' Library Journal, v.29 (1904) p. 67-70

References

Other sources

* P. Helweg-Larsen (1955) ''H.O. Lange. En Mindebog'' (København: P. Haase & Søns Forlag) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Hans Osterfeld 1863 births 1943 deaths People from Aarhus University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Danish librarians Order of Saint Olav Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog