Thomas Johannes Lauritz Parr (13 May 1862 – 12 August 1935) was a Norwegian educator and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. He was born in

Drøbak Drøbak is a town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its own through a royal d ...

as a son of ship-owner Hans Henry Parr and Laura Jørgensen. In March 1897 in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

he married Helga Johanne Eide, a daughter of consul Ludolf Eide and sister of

Egil Eide Egil Næss Eide (24 August 1868 – 13 December 1946) was a Norwegian silent film actor and film director, director. He appeared in eighteen films between 1913 and 1935, and worked at the Nationaltheatret, National Theatre between 1899 and 1 ...

. The couple had the son

Albert Eide Parr Albert Eide Parr (15 August 1900 – 16 July 1991) was an American marine biologist, zoologist and oceanographer. He was the director of the American Museum of Natural History from 1942 to 1959. ''Parrosaurus missouriensis'', a species of plant-e ...

, a noted zoologist and oceanographer who married a daughter of Peder Hansen. Parr finished Kristiania Commerce School in 1877, worked in an office for four years and from 1882 to 1883 he studied for, and took, the

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

. He enrolled 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 ...

, and after one year of studying theology he switched to philology and graduated with the cand.philol. degree in 1890. He was hired as a teacher at

Tanks Upper Secondary School Tank Upper Secondary School () was an upper secondary school in the centre of Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns ...

in 1892 and Bergen Cathedral School in 1900. He retired for health reasons in 1929. He was a modern

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

thinker for his time, and wrote prolifically in '' Samtiden'', ''Vor Ungdom'' and ''Skolebladet'' as well as the newspaper ''

Bergens Tidende is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo. is owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norwegian owners held a mere 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end of 2015. History and profile Founded ...

''. He also became known a pamphlet in 1918, in which he tried to counter the ideas of the

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

whose inception was prepared by a special committee at that time. He was also interested in moral and psychology, and publicly debated these subjects from the 1890s. From 1899 to 1900 he conducted a study travel to Germany. In 1912 he issued the book ''Følelsesbetoningens intellektuelle egenverdi''. It was later expanded into a German-language thesis, ''Der intellektuelle Eigenwert der Gefühlsbetonung'' in 1922, but already in 1913 he successfully submitted the dissertation for the dr.philos. degree. He also published academically in French and English. He was hired as a part-time lecturer at

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen () is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The University Museum of Bergen was fo ...

, and from 1917 he was a fellow 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 ...

. He was described as a "noble character" who dedicated himself to counter all forms of cheating and promote academic honesty. At the same time he was derided for his "exaggerated, nervously determined diligence" and "pathological self-criticism". He died in August 1935 in Bergen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Thomas 1862 births 1935 deaths People from Frogn Health professionals from Bergen University of Oslo alumni Schoolteachers from Bergen Norwegian psychologists Norwegian education writers Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters