Leiv Amundsen (30 May 1898 – 25 June 1987) was a Norwegian librarian and philologist. He was born in

Tjøme Tjøme () is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2018. The area is now part of Færder Municipality. The administrative ce ...

as a son of sailmaker Carl Amundsen (1851–1916) and Henrikke Elise Andersen (1857–1923). He attended upper secondary school in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, and worked at the

University Library of Oslo The University of Oslo Library (, UBO) is a library connected to the University of Oslo. Like the university, it was established in 1811 with Georg Sverdrup as the first head librarian. It originally doubled as the Norwegian List of national li ...

at the same time as studying

classical philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

. He never actually graduated from the university, but was instead promoted manager of the manuscript collection at the University Library in 1923. He specialized in

papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

, first as the assistant of

Samson Eitrem Samson Eitrem (28 December 1872 – 8 July 1966) was a Norwegian philologist, an expert in ancient literature, religion and magic. Personal life Eitrem was born in Kragerø to Samson Eitrem (1832–1923) and Anine Marie Nielsen, and he was a bro ...

. He was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

with Rockefeller grants from 1926 to 1929, and studied abroad. Among others he was a part of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Archaeological Expedition in

Karanis Karanis (), located in what is now Kom Aushim, was an agricultural town in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt located in the northeast corner of the Faiyum Oasis. It was roughly 60 hectares in size and its peak population is estimated to be 4000 people, al ...

, and published ''Greek Ostraca in the University of Michigan Collection. Part I. Texts'' in 1935. He took the

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in 1933, and was hired as a docent at the Royal Frederick University in 1935. He was promoted to professor in 1946. Amundsen was also secretary-general of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, 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 University in Christiania was establis ...

from 1954 to 1961. He had been a fellow of the Academy since 1935. He retired in 1968. Throughout his career he published diaries and letters of Bernhard Herre,

Camilla Collett Jacobine Camilla Collett (née Wergeland; 23 January 1813 – 6 March 1895) was a Norwegian writer, often referred to as the first Norwegian feminist. She was also the younger sister of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, and is recognized as being ...

Peter Jonas Collett Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

. In 1976 he co-published the correspondence between

Johan Ernst Gunnerus Johan Ernst Gunnerus (26 February 1718 – 25 September 1773) was a Norway, Norwegian bishop and botanist. Gunnerus was born at Oslo, Christiania. He was bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1758 until his death and also a professor of theology ...

and

Carl von Linné Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organi ...

between 1761 and 1772. He also published the two-volume history of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, in 1957 and 1960, and wrote large parts of the two-volume work on the University of Oslo from 1911 to 1961. He also contributed significantly to the first edition of ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. It is part of the '' Great Norwegian Encyclopedia''. Origin The first print edition (NBL1) was issued between 1923 and 1983; it included 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. Kunnskapsforlaget to ...

'', and edited '' Gyldendals nye konversasjonsleksikon'', issued in four editions between 1948 and 1958. From May 1928 Amundsen was married to Inger Sandberg (1898–1985). He died in June 1987 in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

. He had lived at

Stabekk Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway, west of Oslo. It is predominantly a residential area, with many residents commuting to Oslo. As of 2005 the population was 6,261. Bærum has the highest income per capita and the hi ...

and Capralhaugen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amundsen, Leiv 1898 births 1987 deaths People from Tjøme Academic staff of the University of Oslo Librarians from Oslo Classical philologists Papyrologists Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters University of Michigan people 20th-century Norwegian philologists