Anders Sandvig (11 May 1862 – 11 February 1950) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

dentist most noted for having founded

Maihaugen Maihaugen (''De Sandvigske Samlinger på Maihaugen, Lillehammer'') is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Lillehammer, Norway. Maihaugen, with close to 200 buildings, is one of Northern Europe's largest open-air museums and is one of th ...

, an innovative regional

ethnological Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

and architectural museum in Lillehammer, documenting the

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towa ...

Biography

Sandvig was born at

Bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He was the son of Sjur Sandvig and Maren Knudsdotter Hustad. He first worked as an apprentice with a jeweler in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

where he often performed gold work for dentists. He was trained as a dentist in Kristiansund with later training at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

and in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. During his stay in Germany, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In 1885 moved to Lillehammer to start a dentist practice and promote his recovery. At this time he was the only dentist in

. On a travel to

Skjåk Skjåk is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bismo. Most of the municipal residents live in the Billingsdalen a ...

in 1894, he came to the realization that Norwegian farmers had not yet begun to appreciate their cultural heritage. He acquired his first house, a dwelling house built in 1764 at Skjåk. The building was moved to the large property he had near Lillehammer. By the turn of the century he had six antiquarian buildings and a large amount of other objects. In 1902, the Society for Lillehammer Byes Vel bought the collection and had it moved to Maihaugen just outside of Lillehammer. The city of Lillehammer set aside an area known as

and bought Sandvig's collection and established the Sandvig Collections (''De Sandvigske Samlinger'') in 1904. Sandvig was at first hired as unpaid curator, but was later appointed the museum's first director. Sandvig also traveled extensively to promote ethnological museums, including Vesterheim in

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

Personal life

In 1889 he married Anna Georgine Uchermann (1868–1950). In 1900 he became a knight and in 1907 commander of the Order of St. Olav. He was also commander of the Swedish

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

. He retired from the museum in 1947 at 85 years of age. He died in 1950 at Lillehammer.

References

Other sources

*Engen, Arnfinn (2004) ''Samlaren Anders Sandvig'' (Samlaget: Oslo) *Jacobsen, Gaute; Wallin Weihe, Hans-Jørgen (2012) ''Anders Sandvig og Maihaugen'' (Hertevig Akademiske: Stavanger)

External links

Maihaugen website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandvig, Anders 1862 births 1950 deaths People from Møre og Romsdal University of Oslo alumni Norwegian dentists Norwegian curators Directors of museums in Norway Order of Saint Olav Recipients of the Order of Vasa