Svein Bjerke (born 15 November 1938 in

Oslo 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 ...

), is a religious historian and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

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 ...

, where he was attached to the Department for the

History of Religion The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves th ...

for thirty years, part of the time as its head. He belonged to the first Norwegian group of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

students, but has since worked with archeological excavations (for example as member of The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia in 1965-66), philological text analyses (especially in his thesis on the Egyptian mouth opening ritual) and traditional anthropological field work. His most well-known work is the doctoral dissertation ''Religion and Misfortune'' (UiO 1975; Universitetsforlaget 1981; ) based on fieldwork in North-Western

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Bjerke has represented Norwegian Comparative religion in the International Association for the History of Religion (IAHR) and for a number of years been a member of the editorial board of the journal ''Humanist''. Bjerke is married to professor Nora Ahlberg.

References

Norwegian anthropologists 1938 births Living people {{Norway-academic-bio-stub