Jakob Larsen (historian)

Jakob Aall Ottesen Larsen (born March 1, 1888 in Decorah ( Iowa ), † September 1, 1974 in Columbia (Missouri) ) was an American ancient historian .

Life

Jakob Larsen came from a family of Norwegian descent. His father Peter Laurentius Ottesen was the director of Luther College in Decorah. Here the son studied history and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1908. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1910 . He then deepened his studies at Yale University (1910/1911) and at the University of Oxford , where he studied for several years and obtained his bachelor's degree and master's degree again. A Rhodes scholarship supported his studies in 1914.

After returning to the USA in 1921, Larsen initially worked as an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Washington . In 1926 he moved to Ohio State University ; at the same time he operated at Harvard University with William Scott Ferguson his doctorate , which he achieved in 1928 with a work on Greco-Roman forms of government. He was then appointed Associate Professor at Ohio State University (1929). In the same position he went to the University of Chicago in 1930 , where he was appointed full professor in 1943 . From 1951 to 1952 he was chairman of the American Philological Association .

In 1953 Larsen retired, but remained active in research and teaching. From 1953 to 1954 he was Sather Professor in Classics at the University of California at Berkeley . In the following years he was visiting professor at Rutgers University (1956–1957), at the University of Texas at Austin (1960) and at the University of Missouri (1960–1971). At this university he also spent his old age. In recognition of his services, the University of Vermont awarded him the title of Doctor of Laws in 1953 , and Luther College in 1961 the title of Doctor of Letters . In 1957 he received the Goodwin Award. The British Academy elected him a corresponding member in 1967.

Larsen's research focus was the political situation in the Greek states and Roman Greece.

literature

• Michael P. Hugh: Larsen, Jakob Aall Ottesen . In: Ward W. Briggs (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists , Westport, CT / London: Greenwood Press 1994, pp. 341-343, ISBN 978-0-313245-60-2 .

Web links

• Entry on Jakob Larsen in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)