Asbjørn Aarnes (20 December 1923 – 8 January 2013) was a Norwegian professor and literary historian.

Biography

He was born at Vågbø in

Tingvoll Tingvoll is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Tingvollvågen. Other villages include Meisingset, Kvisvik, and Torjulvågen. The municipality cove ...

, Norway. He studied from 1951-52 at

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1957, Aarnes became Dr. Philos. 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 ...

. He was appointed professor at the

from 1964. He was professor of European literary history from 1964 to 1993, as well as head of literature department from 1966 to 1970. He also several published works on French literature and on Norwegian poets. He was co-editor of the book series ''Idé og tanke'', jointly with Egil A. Wyller, and principal editor of the book series ''Thorleif Dahls Kulturbibliotek'' from 1978 to 2001. In 1963 he was admitted to the

Norwegian Academy The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature ( no, Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian ...

and presided over from 1967-82. From 2005, he wrote a column for ''

Dag og Tid Dag, or variant forms, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''DAG'' (American TV series), 2000–2001 * ''Dag'' (Norwegian TV series), 2010–2015 * ''DAG'' (newspaper), a former free Dutch newspaper * DAG (band), an American funk band * D ...

''.

Awards

Aarnes became a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Sciences 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 ...

in 1983. He received several French honorary decorations, including l'

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

in 1970, the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1979 and l'

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

in 1984. He was the first recipient of the Anders Jahre cultural prize (''Anders Jahres kulturpris'') which he received jointly with sculptor

Nils Aas Nils Sigurd Aas (21 April 1933 – 10 February 2004) was a Norwegian sculptor. He was one of the most prominent artists in modern Norwegian sculpture and is particularly well known for his statue of Haakon VII, located in the June Seventh Squar ...

in 1990.

Personal life

In 1950, he married Berit Alten (1915–2002), daughter of

Edvin Alten Edvin Alten (1876 – 1967) was a Norwegian judge. He was born in Tønsberg. He worked as deputy under-secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice and the Police from 1918, and as a Supreme Court Justice from 1925 to 1948. He was married to Ra ...

(1876–1967) and Ragna Aass (1880–1975). She was the younger sister of actress

Rønnaug Alten Rønnaug Alten (9 February 1910 – 20 January 2001) was a Norwegian actress and stage instructor. Biography She was born in Tromsø, Norway. Her parents were Emil Bredenbech Melle (1878–1950) and Ragna Aass (1880–1975). After her parents' ...

(1910– 2001).

References

1923 births 2013 deaths People from Møre og Romsdal University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian literary historians Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Norwegian columnists École Normale Supérieure alumni Norwegian expatriates in France {{norway-historian-stub