Francis Bull

Francis Bull, 1925

Francis Bull (born October 4, 1887 in Christiania , † July 4, 1974 in Hørsholm , Denmark ) was a Norwegian literary historian and professor at the University of Oslo .

Life

Bull was the son of Edvard Isak Hambro Bull and his wife Ida Marie Sofie Paludan . His brother was Edvard Bull , who became Norwegian Foreign Minister in 1928 . His family was wealthy and educated. His father also worked as a theater doctor, which is why Francis Bull also went to the theater regularly. After graduating from school in 1905, he studied literary history in Oslo, mainly with Gerhard Gran . In 1916 he obtained his doctorate with his thesis Fra Holberg til Nordahl Brun .

In 1920 Francis Bull was appointed professor of Nordic literatures at the University of Oslo as Gran's successor . In the same year he became a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences . In 1926 Francis Bull married Ingrid Berntsen (1896–1957).

Bull was arrested in 1941 and was imprisoned in the Grini concentration camp until 1944 . There he gave lectures to his fellow prisoners, thirteen of which were later published in the book Tretten taler på Grini . After the war he returned to Oslo, where he returned to his chair. In 1957 Bull retired.

In 1946 the University of Aarhus made Bull an honorary doctorate. In 1957 he was awarded the Commander's Cross with a Star, the second highest level of the Order of Saint Olav .

Act

Bull wrote the five-volume Norsk literaturhistory together with Johan Fredrik Paasche and was co-author of the encyclopedia Norsk biografisk leksikon , which was edited by his brother Edvard together with Gerhard Gran. Bull was also one of the founders of the Norwegian Academy .

literature

• Horst Bien (Ed.): Meyers Taschenlexikon Northern European Literatures, Leipzig 1978

Web links

• Article about Francis Bull from the Norsk biografisk leksikon (Norwegian)