Peter Østbye

Peter Nielsen Østbye (20 February 1855 - Norway—2 February 1943) was a Norwegian philologist and academic administrator. He taught classical languages and was a proponent of learning the Latin language. He was an education official at Fredrikstad between 1894-1910 and at Drammen between 1910-1926.
He is principally known for his translations of Homer's epic poems, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' from Ancient Greek into Norwegian.

Biography

Østbye was born into a farming family at Nittedal in Akershus, Norway. He was the son of Nils Østbye (1814–1901) and Marie Petersen (1818–71). During his childhood, he moved to Skien, where he studied at the Latin school. In 1873, he graduated and obtained an ''Examen artium'' with Latin honor ''laudabilis præ cæteris''. He first studied at the Polytechnic University in Dresden, but he resigned and chose to study classical philology at the University of Kristiania (now University of Oslo) where he graduated in 1881.

In 1883, Østbye received an award from the Hjelmstjerne-Rosenkrones legat which would finance further studies in classical philology, with emphasis on Latin at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1887, he won the Crown Prince's gold medal (''Kronprinsens gullmedalje'') for his thesis ''Om Plan og Komposition i Thukydids græske Historie'' ("Plan and composition of Thucydides's Greek stories"). The same year, he obtained a scholarship for his classical philology studies, and wrote an elementary thesis in German, entitled ''Die Zahl der Bürger von Athen im 5. Jahrhundert'' ("The number of inhabitants in Athens in the 5th century").

From 1882-94, he was a teacher and co-supervisor at Hauges Minde in Kristiania. In 1894, he was hired as director, and then became chancellor of Fredrikstad høiere almenskole in 1898. In 1910, he became chancellor at the Drammen Latin school until he retired in 1926. He was also a member of National Teaching Council (''Undervisningsrådet'') during 1909-24. Even though Østbye published a translation of Sophocles' ''Oedipus at Colonus'' in 1891, he performed most of his translation work within the last decades of his life. When he released a translation of ''Iliad'' in 1920, he was already 65 years old.

Personal life

He was married twice; 1) in 1885 with Elise Mathilde Hoff (1855-1889), daughter of Hans Christian Martinus Hoff (1814–79) and Charlotte Meyn (1818-1911), 2) in 1897 with Elise Charlotte Meyn (1872-1926), daughter of Anton Meyn (1816–82) and Anna Fischer (1838-1930).

Tributes

*He was nominated as a Knight 1st Class in the Order of St. Olav in 1927.
*In 1927, a Festschrift was published in tribute to Østbye and four of his co-workers.
*Rektor Østbyes Gate in Fredrikstad and Peter Østbyes gate in Drammen are both streets named in tribute to Peter Østbye.

Translations

*Sophocles, ''Oedipus at Colonus'' in 1891;
*Homer, ''Iliad'' in 1920;
*Homer, ''Odyssey'' in 1922;
*Sophocles, ''Oedipus Rex'' in 1924;
*Sophocles, ''Antigone'' in 1924;
*Sophocles, ''Electra'' in 1924;
*Aeschylus, ''Oresteia'' in 1926;
*Euripides, ''Medea'' in 1928;
*Euripides, ''Iphigenia in Aulis'' in 1928;
*Euripides, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' in 1928;
*Euripides, '' Hippolytus'' in 1928;
*Euripides, ''The Bacchae'' in 1928.

References

Other sources

* Alv Storheid Langeland: «Peter Østbye», in ''Skolen og vi. Festskrift for Norsk Lektorlag ved 60-årsjubileet 1952''.
* ''Salmonsens konversationsleksikon'', Anden Udgave'', chapter XXV, s
866
København: J. H. Schulz, 1928.

External links

*
Peter Østbye
''Store norske leksikon''
*
Peter Østbye
''Norsk biografisk leksikon''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Østbye, Peter
1855 births
1943 deaths
People from Nittedal
University of Oslo alumni
TU Dresden alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Norwegian educators
Norwegian philologists
19th-century Norwegian translators
Translators to Norwegian
Translators from Greek
Norwegian Latinists
Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal
20th-century Norwegian translators