Anders Reidar Kjellberg (19 April 1904 – 22 February 1978) was a Norwegian art historian and museum director.''Reidar Kjellberg''
''Store norske leksikon''

Biography

Anders Reidar Kjellberg was born in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Kjellberg took his final exams in 1924 and began studying theology. However, he soon found out that he was more interested in the history of science, art history and literary history. In 1934 he took a master's degree in art history at the University of Oslo. In 1934, he was hired as an assistant keeper at the

Norwegian Museum of Cultural History Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History), at Bygdøy, Oslo, Norway, is a museum of cultural history with extensive collections of artifacts from all social groups and all regions of the country. It also incorporates a large open ...

(''Norsk Folkemuseum''), a large open-air museum located on

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...

in the

Frogner Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the East End and West End of Oslo, West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg, Norway, Urani ...

borough of

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 ...

. He was promoted to deputy director in 1940. He became Director of the museum in 1947 as a replacement for the founding director,

Hans Aall Hans Jacob Aall (20 September 1869 in Arendal – 6 November 1946 in Oslo) was a Norwegian librarian and museum director. He was born in Arendal to ship owner Diderik Maria Aall and Marie Elisabeth Herlofson. He was a great-grandson of Niel ...

(1867- 1946). He remained museum director until he retired in 1974. In 1951, the Sami collection in the Ethnographic Museum of 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 ...

was transferred to the Norsk Folkemuseum. Kjellberg chaired the Broadcasting Council (''Kringkastingsrådet''), the advisory board to the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

from 1951 to 1958 and the Association of Museums of Art and Cultural History (''Norske Kunst- og Kulturhistoriske Museer'') from 1957 to 1966. In 1957, Kjellberg was elected a member of the

Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy () in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. Its name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture"). The Academy was founded on 6 November 1932, on ...

and in 1962 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 ...

, where during the period 1964-1968 he was also a member of the Board. Reidar Kjellberg received the 1973

Oslo City Culture Award The Oslo City Culture Award is a Norwegian award given to a person, group or cultural activity of outstanding achievement in or long-time contribution to arts, science or other cultural work in the city of Oslo's or the country's cultural life. A ...

Selected works

*''Håndverkeren og kjøpmannen, i Norsk kulturhistorie, bd. 2'' (1938) *''Blant laugsbrødre, ibid., bd. 3''(1939) *''Et halvt århundre. Norsk Folkemuseum 1894–1944'' (1945) *''Hugo Lous Mohr's takmalerier i Oslo domkirke'' (1952) *''Til Sparre Olsen på 50-årsdagen'' (1953) *''Thorbjørn Lie-Jørgensen'' (1961) *''Den store stasjon og andre kåserier'' (1965)

References

Other sources

*Hegard, Tonte ''Hans Aall - mannen, visjonen og verket'' (Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo: 1994) *Norsk Folkemuseum ''Pa Nordmanns vis: Norsk folkemuseum gjennom 100 ar'' (Aschehoug, Oslo: 1993)

External links

Norsk Folkemuseum
1904 births 1978 deaths People from Fredrikstad Norwegian art historians Directors of museums in Norway 20th-century Norwegian historians University of Oslo alumni {{Norway-historian-stub