Hans Jacob Aall (20 September 1869, in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

– 6 November 1946, 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 ...

) 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 ...

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

and

museum director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He was born in Arendal to ship owner Diderik Maria Aall and Marie Elisabeth Herlofson. He was a great-grandson of

Niels Aall Niels Aall (1 December 1769 – 23 October 1854) was a Norwegian estate owner, businessman and politician. Family Niels Aall was the son of lumber merchant Nicolai Benjamin Aall (1739–98) from Porsgrunn and his wife Amjørg Jørgensdatter ...

, and nephew of

Axel Nicolai Herlofson Axel Nicolai Herlofson (29 August 1845 in Østre Moland – 1910 in Christiania) was a Norwegian fraudster who is known for causing the Arendal crash, after defrauding customers and co-owners of Arendals Privatbank which he had co-founded ...

, and a member of the Aall family which originates in Denmark ( Aal Sogn) in the 1500s. He graduated with an ''

examen philosophicum Examen philosophicum (Latin for ''philosophic exam''; abbreviated to ''Ex.phil.'') is, together with Examen facultatum, one of two academic exams in most undergraduate programmes at Norwegian universities. Whereas ''Examen facultatum'' aims at te ...

'' degree (roughly equal to a

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

) in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1890. He married Emma Lund in 1901, but she died already in 1908. They had no children. Aall was the founding director of the

Norwegian Museum of Cultural History Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History), at Bygdøy, Oslo, Norway, is a museum of cultural history with extensive collections of artifacts from all social groups and all regions of the country. It also incorporates a large op ...

, which was established in 1894, and chaired the museum for 52 years until his death in 1946. He was decorated Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1909, and Commander in 1929. He was Commander of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

, and Grand Knight of the Icelandic

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

References

1869 births 1946 deaths People from Arendal Directors of museums in Norway Commanders of the Order of Vasa Grand Knights of the Order of the Falcon {{norway-academic-bio-stub