Kåre Dorenfeldt Tønnesson (1 January 1926 – 26 September 2019) was a Norwegian historian and professor at the University of Oslo. He finished his secondary education at Valler in 1944. After enrolling in philological studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in 1945 he graduated with the cand.philol. degree in history in 1952. His master's thesis delved into causality in the writings of

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

. In 1959 Tønnesson took the dr.philos. degree with the thesis ''La défaite des sans-culottes'', "The Defeat of the

Sans-culottes The (; ) were the working class, common people of the social class in France, lower classes in late 18th-century history of France, France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their ...

". He was a lecturer in history at the University of Oslo from 1958,

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

from 1960,

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

from 1964 and professor from 1969 to 1991. From 1973 to 1975 he was the dean at the Faculty of History and Philosophy. After retiring from the professorship, he was a scholar in NAVF and the

Research Council of Norway The Research Council (also the Research Council of Norway; ) is a Norwegian government agency that funds research and innovation projects. On behalf of the Government, the Research Council invests NOK 11,7 billion (2022) annually. The Research ...

. Larger works include volume four of ''Sentraladministrasjonens historie'' in 1979 and volume ten of '' Aschehougs verdenshistorie'' in 1985. This was also translated into Swedish and was reissued in 2001. In 1989 he marked the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution with the book ''Revolusjonen som rystet Europa''. The book was published in Norwegian and also translated into Swedish. In 2007 he released a biography on

Madame de Staël Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

. A

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in Tønnesson's honor was released in 1995,. He was a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, 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 University in Christiania was establis ...

. Tønnesson was born in

Ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

, and grew up in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

. He died in September 2019 aged 93. He was the father of Stein Tønnesson.

References

1926 births 2019 deaths Writers from Bærum 20th-century Norwegian historians University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters {{Norway-historian-stub