Professor Robert Ture Olov Janse (August 3, 1892, in
Norrköping
Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...
, Sweden – March 1985, in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, United States)
was a Swedish archaeologist. He is notable for his excavation work at
Đông Sơn between 1935 and 1939.
Though he originally argued a viewpoint for the European origins of
Bronze Age culture in Vietnam, he reversed himself in support of Chinese origins after he started excavations at Đông Sơn.
Janse is characterized as having introduced order into the research of the history of archaeology in
Mainland Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
.
Early life and education
Janse was the son of candy factory owner Thure Johan Janse and Hilma Wilhelmina Svensson.
His uncle, Otto Janse, who was an archaeologist who specialized in Swedish medieval history, was an inspiration to Olov in choosing his field of study, archaeology.
Olov also received inspiration from
Ture Nerman. Nerman and his brothers,
Birger
Birger is a Scandinavian name from Old Norse, ''bjarga'', meaning "to help, to save, to protect". It is widely used in Norway as Birger but also as Børge. The Swedish variant of ''Birger'' would soon evolve into ''Börje'', however, the prior for ...
and Ejnar, became lifelong friends with Olov. Stated the archaeologist Birger Nerman, "I soon grew tired of sweets, but got a friend for life."
Janse received his early education at De Geer school in Norrköping. He graduated from
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 ...
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1916, a Master of Arts degree in 1920, and his doctorate in 1922.
on the thesis ''Le travail de l'or en Suède à l'époque mérovingienne. Études précédées d'un mémoire sur les solidi romains & byzantins trouvés en Suède''.
Career
Between 1920 and 1930, he worked as an assistant curator at the
National Archaeological Museum in
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
, France. He held the position of associate professor of national and prehistoric archaeology at the
École du Louvre
The École du Louvre () is a selective institution of higher education and prestigious ''grande école'' located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology ...
during the period of 1925 to 1927, lectured as an associate professor from 1928 through 1936 at the
École pratique des hautes études
The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a .
EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...
at the
Sorbonne.
He was appointed honorary professor at the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
in 1934. His work alternated between Paris and Stockholm at different institutions.
During the following years, Janse was director of the Archaeological Expedition to Indochina, composed of a research team of archaeologists and ethnologists who made important excavations in
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
. Janse used the practice of typology-based archaeology to his field of prehistoric research. He excavated the Đông Sơn site, and other sites in Viet Nam over the course of three periods from November 1934 through November 1938. He also excavated
Han and
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
Chinese monuments and tombs,
in fact, finding both
Dong Son culture and Han-style brick tombs at the Đông Sơn archaeological site.
During his third excavation, he also spent time at the
Sa Huỳnh sites in
Quảng Ngãi Province
Quảng Ngãi is a northern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the South Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Nam to the north, Bình Định to the south, Kon Tum province, Kon Tum to the ...
. While most of the ceramics that he unearthed during these excavations were deposited in various museums around the world, he gave some to King
, perhaps as a gesture of patriotism.
During World War II, Janse went to the United States where he worked as an advisor to the U.S. intelligence agency,
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...
. Janse became a professor of
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
n Archaeology at Harvard University in 1940, a position he held through 1943. Thereafter he worked at
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, and then in Korea.
His was influenced by
Oscar Montelius
Gustaf Oscar Augustin Montelius, known as Oscar Montelius (9September 18434November 1921) was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method.
Biography
Oscar Montelius refined the conce ...
,
Johan Gunnar Andersson
Johan Gunnar Andersson (3 July 1874 – 29 October 1960)"Andersson, Johan Gunnar" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a Swedish archaeologist, geomorphologist, ...
, and
Henri Hubert.
Personal life
Janse was married to Renee Sokolsky (b. circa 1903, Russia; died 2000).
She accompanied him on his scientific trips. In 1940, Janse and his wife settled in the United States, and in 1948 he became a U.S. citizen.
At retirement, they lived in an upscale retirement home at 4000
Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C. where he died in 1985 after complications from a traffic accident.
He became a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities in 1961.
Legacy
In 2002, the antiquities donated by his widow, Renee Janse, became the Olov and Renee Jansen Memorial Fund. The Jansen East Asian collections held today include the
Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, the
Musée Cernuschi
The Musée Cernuschi (; 'Cernuschi Museum'), officially also the ('Asian Arts Museum of the City of Paris'), is an Asian art museum located at 7 avenue Vélasquez, near Parc Monceau, in Paris, France. Its Asian art collection is second in Par ...
in Paris, the
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in Paris, and the
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropologica ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, US.
The Bortom Synranden is a biographical research project regarding the work of Jansen.
The Chinese ceramics that Janse collected in 1939 from the
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
are in the
National Museum of Singapore. Other collections of his cultural materials are housed at the Cernushi Museum, the Guimet Museum, the Louvre, the Museum of Art and History, and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
References
External links
Obituary- by anthropologist
Wilhelm Solheim,
University of Hawaii at Manoa
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janse, Olov
1892 births
1985 deaths
People from Norrköping
Social scientists from Washington, D.C.
People of the Office of Strategic Services
Uppsala University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Paris
Harvard University faculty
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Swedish emigrants to the United States
20th-century Swedish archaeologists