Peter Larsen Thorslev Jr. (October 17, 1929 – October 13, 2011) was an American literary scholar. A 1965

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, he wrote two books on

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

literature: '' The Byronic Hero'' (1962) and '' Romantic Contraries'' (1984). He was one of the first openly LGBT academics at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Biography

Thorslev was born on October 17, 1929, in

Harlan, Iowa Harlan is a city and the county seat of Shelby County, Iowa, along the Nishnabotna River, West Nishnabotna River. The population was 4,893 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Harlan was platted in 1858. It was nam ...

. His father Peter Larsen Thorslev emigrated from Denmark and worked as a minister in Canada, before becoming pastor of the

United Evangelical Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church (commonly known as the United Church) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans came to the United States from Europe. Originally known as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Uni ...

in Kennard, Nebraska. Later moving to Kennard, he obtained his BA from

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m2) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. It closed in 2010. T ...

in 1950. He did graduate studies at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, obtaining his MA in 1957 and PhD in 1959; his doctoral dissertation was titled ''The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes''. After spending one year at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

as an English instructor (1959-1960), he moved to the

as assistant professor of English. In 1966, he was promoted to associate professor. Thorslev specialized in

Romantic-era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

literature. In 1962, he published '' The Byronic Hero'', a monograph on the character archetype of the same name. In 1965, he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

"for a study of free will and determinism in the Romantic period". Another book in the field, '' Romantic Contraries'', was published in 1984. Thorslev was gay, reportedly being one of the first UCLA faculty members to

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

. He chaired the UCLA senate's academic freedom committee. In 1988, he voiced concern about the state of the International Gay and Lesbian Archives (now part of the

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries is the oldest existing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) organization in the United States and one of the largest repositories of LGBTQ materi ...

) after they lost their original storage space due to financial issues. Thorslev died on October 13, 2011, at

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a Catholic hospital in Burbank, California. The hospital has 446 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. Its address is 501 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505. On the opposit ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. He was cremated and interred at St. James' Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, while a funeral took place on October 20 at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

Bibliography

*'' The Byronic Hero'' (1962) *'' Romantic Contraries'' (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorslev, Peter L. 1929 births 2011 deaths American academics of English literature Historians of the Romantic period 20th-century American historians 20th-century American LGBTQ people Gay academics American gay writers American LGBTQ historians People from Harlan, Iowa People from Washington County, Nebraska Historians from Iowa Historians from Nebraska Dana College alumni University of Minnesota alumni Northwestern University faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty American people of Danish descent