Paulus Svendsen (17 April 1904 – 21 April 1989) was a Norwegian professor and literary historian. He is mainly remembered for his biographies of notable thinkers of

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

Biography

He was born in

Egersund Egersund is a town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger. The town is situated along a strait which separates the mainland from t ...

, Norway. He was the son of Oscar Svendsen (1876–1967), and his wife, Dagmar Marie Steffensen (born 1882). His father was a Methodist priest. He started studying 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 1923, and graduated with a cand.philol. degree seven years later. In 1940, he defended a thesis titled ''Gullalderdrøm og utviklingstro'', which earned him a dr.philos. degree in the subsequent year. He taught as an associate professor at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

1931–33, lecturer at

Trondheim Cathedral School Trondheim Cathedral School ( no, Trondheim katedralskole, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding ...

from 1933 and head teacher at Trondheim Handelsgymnasium from 1937. He was hired as a senior lecturer in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

at the

in 1946. He was appointed professor of

European literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, and ...

three years later. From 1960 to 1974 he held a professorship in

Intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

. : Also available on the internet as: Paulus Svendsen was interested in the evolution of philosophical thought of the western world, in particular the philosophical view of the world known as ''weltanschaaungen''. He wrote biographies on Dutch philosopher

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, Danish philosopher and theologian

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

, Norwegian short story writer and novelist

Maurits Hansen Maurits Christopher Hansen (5 July 1794 – 16 March 1842) was a Norwegian writer. He was born in Modum as a son of Carl Hansen (1757–1826) and Abigael Wulfsberg (1758–1823). In October 1816 he married teacher Helvig Leschly (1789–1874). ...

and Norwegian poet Conrad Nicolai Schwach. He was also one of the editors of the biographical dictionary ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

''. He died during 1989 and was buried at Vestre gravlund in Oslo.

Selected works

*''Gullalderdrøm og utviklingstro'' (1940) *''Maurits Christopher Hansen'' (1942) *''Renessanse-humanistene og humanitas'' (1959) *''Zur Frage der Humanitas Erasmiana'' (1967) *''Kristianismen : kulturfornyer eller kulturforstyrrer?'' (1978) *''Enhet og mangfold i europeisk kultur'' (1980) *''Forelesninger og studier'' (1982)

References

1904 births 1989 deaths Norwegian literary historians University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian biographers Male biographers Norwegian encyclopedists People from Egersund 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century biographers 20th-century Norwegian male writers Burials at Vestre gravlund {{Norway-academic-bio-stub