Anne Elisabeth Holtsmark (21 June 1896 – 19 May 1974) 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 the ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Personal life

She was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, the second of five children of

Gabriel Gabrielsen Holtsmark Gabriel Gabrielsen Holtsmark (1 February 1867 – 20 July 1954) was a Norwegian educator, physicist and actuary. Personal life He was born in Asker as a son of farmer and mayor Bent Holtsmark and his wife Anne Elisabeth Gabrielsen. He was a brot ...

(1867–1954) and Margrete Weisse (1871–1933), and grew up in Kristiania and Ås. She was a maternal granddaughter of

Johan Peter Weisse Johan Peter Weisse (13 August 1832 – 7 March 1886) was a Norwegian philologist. Personal life He was born in Fluberg as a son of physician Joachim Frederik Weisse and his wife Grethe Fleischer. His grandfather had migrated to Norway from Brande ...

, a paternal granddaughter of Bent Holtsmark, a niece of

Bernt Bernt is a Scandinavian variant of the German masculine given name Berend, which is the Low German form of Bernard (Bernhard). The name Bernhard means "strong bear" (from Old German ''bero'', "bear", and ''harti'', "strong"). Its use in Sweden was ...

and Torger Holtsmark, and a sister of

Johan Johan * Johan (given name) * Johan (film), ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** Johan (album), ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunav ...

and

Karen Holtsmark Karen Kristine Holtsmark (11 November 1907 – 7 March 1998) was a Norwegian painter. Biography Holtsmark was born at Ås in Akershus, Norway. She was a daughter of Gabriel Gabrielsen Holtsmark (1867–1954) and his wife Margrete Weisse (1871� ...

. She herself never married.

Career

Holtsmark was educated in business schools and worked at the Christiania Sparebank from 1913 to 1915 before taking 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 ...

at Kristiania Cathedral School in 1917. In 1927, she graduated from the

Royal Frederick University 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 ...

with a cand.philol. degree in 1924. She majored in Norwegian and minored in French and history, and also worked part-time as a tutor and keeping accounts at the

Oslo Commerce School Oslo Commerce School (Norwegian language, Norw. ''Oslo Handelsgymnasium'') is a full-time public school in Oslo, Norway, specialising in the teaching of Business school, financial and business management. The school was founded in 1875 as Christi ...

, where her father was the director. Holtsmark became the first female professor in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

at the University of Oslo. She worked at the

University Library of Oslo The University of Oslo Library ( no, Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo, 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 ...

until 1930, except for 1925–26, when she was a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

in Norwegian at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

for a year. In 1931 she was hired as a docent in Norse

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the University. She took the dr.philos. degree in 1936 with the thesis ''En islandsk scholasticus fra det 12. århundre'', and in 1949 was promoted to professor, succeeding

Magnus Olsen Magnus Bernhard Olsen (28 November 1878 – 16 January 1963) was a Norwegian philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies. Born and raised in Arendal, Olsen received his degrees in philology at Royal Frederick University in Kristiania, ...

. She had to retire in 1960 because of

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, which confined her to a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

from the 1950s onwards. She died in Oslo in May 1974.

Publications

Holtsmark published several translations from

into Norwegian: ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

'' (with

Didrik Arup Seip Didrik Arup Seip (31 August 1884 – 3 May 1963) was a professor of North Germanic languages at the University of Oslo. He earned his doctorate ( dr.philos.) in 1916 and was appointed professor the same year, retiring in 1954. Together with Herman ...

, two volumes, 1934); the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'' (1950); '' Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar'' (1956); ''

Sverris saga ''Sverris saga'' is one of the Kings' sagas. Its subject is King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway (r. 1177–1202) and it is the main source for this period of Norwegian history. As the foreword tells us, the saga in its final form consists of more ...

'' (1961), ''

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style ...

'' (1964); and '' Orkneyinga saga'' (1970). She wrote her master's thesis on the ''

Glymdrápa ''Glymdrápa'' ("''Drápa'' of din") is a skaldic poem composed by Þorbjörn Hornklofi, the court poet of King Harald I of Norway (''Haraldr hárfagri''). Composed toward the end of the 9th century, the poem recounts several battles waged by King ...

'', and also published on the ''

Haustlöng ''Haustlǫng'' (Old Norse: 'Autumn-long'; anglicized as ''Haustlöng'') is a skaldic poem composed around the beginning of the 10th century by the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The poem has been preserved in the 13th-century ''Prose Ed ...

''. From 1938 to 1949 she led the Old Norse dictionary project ''Gammelnorsk ordboksverk''. She published numerous articles, including many contributions to the ''Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder''. Her book on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, ''Norrøn mytologi: Tru og mytar i vikingtida'' (1970) was republished and translated several times.

Honours

* Member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, 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 Univer ...

(from 1941) *

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

(Knight 1st Class) (1958) * Honorary doctorate from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

(1961)"Æresdoktor ved Islands universitet"
''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' 13 October 1961, p. 2

References

External links

Works by and about Anne Holtsmark
at OCLC

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

"Anne Holtsmark 75 år"
''Aftenposten'' 19 June 1971, p. 9
"Minneord om Anne Holtsmark"
''Aftenposten'' 22 May 1974, p. 23 (Obituary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Holtsmark, Anne 1896 births 1974 deaths Writers from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Norwegian expatriates in Germany Old Norse studies scholars Norwegian philologists Academic staff of the University of Oslo Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters People with multiple sclerosis Norwegian women academics 20th-century Norwegian translators 20th-century Norwegian women writers Women philologists 20th-century philologists