Kåre Johannes Langvik-Johannessen (10 April 1919 – 27 October 2014) was a Norwegian philologist, literary historian and translator. He was born in

Onsøy Onsøy is a peninsula and a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre was Gressvik. History The parish of ''Onsø'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). A part of Onsøy w ...

as a son of manager Hans Johannessen (1889–1986) and Betzy Langvik (1887–1963). He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1939 in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

, and during the Second World War he studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, and took commerce school. He enrolled in Norwegian studies 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 ...

in 1946, and graduated with the

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of studi ...

degree in 1948. The same year he travelled to

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

to study

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. He took another degree at the University of Oslo in 1955 with the master's thesis ''Det bibelske drama i Nederlandene før Joost van den Vondel''. In 1963 he took the

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree on the topic Joost van den Vondel with the thesis ''Zwischen Himmel und Erde'' (1963). He 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 ...

from 1965 and professor from 1972 until his retirement in 1989, both at the University of Oslo. He has also been a guest professor at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

. Another important book about Joost van den Vondel, ''Het treurspel spant de kroon'', came in 1987. Langvik-Johannessen has also studied Franz Grillparzer (the book ''Im Namen kaiserlicher Majestät'', 1975) as well as the

Rederijkers Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

and Flemish drama. His 1980 book ''Nederlandenes litteratur gjennom 800 år'' is a collection of several lesser works. He also won the Bastian Prize in 1996 for translating

John of Ruysbroeck John van Ruysbroeck, original Flemish name Jan van Ruusbroec () (1293 or 1294 – 2 December 1381) was an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include ''The Kingdom of the Divi ...

's ''The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage'' into Norwegian. In 1999 he was decorated as a Knight of the

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 ...

. He was married twice, first to actress Ingrid Bothner from 1949 to 1959, then to Annika Lønnå (1936–2006) in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langvik-Johannessen, Kaare 1919 births 2014 deaths People from Fredrikstad University of Oslo alumni Norwegian expatriates in the Netherlands Norwegian philologists Norwegian literary historians Germanists Translators from Dutch Academic staff of the University of Oslo 20th-century Norwegian translators