CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Edvard Beyer

Norwegian historian (1920–2003)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ1291309
Source-derived summary

Edvard Freydar Beyer (6 October 1920 – 10 November 2003) was a Norwegian literary historian, literary critic, and professor at the University of Oslo from 1958 to 1990.

Early and personal life

Beyer was born in Haugesund and grew up in Bergen, as a son of literary historian, later professor Harald Beyer (1891–1960), and Eidis Johannessen (1893–1977). He was married to nurse Aslaug Ryssdal from 1946.

Career

Beyer studied philology, and graduated with the dissertation Livsgleden som problem i Ibsens diktning, which was published in the journal Edda in 1948. The next ten years he worked as an independent literary critic for Bergens Tidende, and eventually as a lecturer at the University of Bergen. He took his dr.philos. degree in 1956, with the thesis Hans E. Kinck; livsangst og livstro (about Hans E. Kinck, issued in two volumes, in 1956 and 1965). His doctorate thesis is regarded as his most important research work. It is regarded as one of the most voluminous monographies on a poet in Norway.

Beyer was appointed professor in Nordic literature at the University of Oslo in 1958, succeeding Francis Bull.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Edvard Beyer” as norwegian historian (1920–2003). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1920, 2003, 1958, 1990—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1920-10-06. The account is most persuasive where Edvard, Beyer and Norwegian can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as norwegian historian (1920–2003). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1291309. VIAF identifies the subject as 27774. The Library of Congress control number is n79081844. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1920, 2003, 1958 and 1990.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Edvard Beyer”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Edvard Beyer primary sources, Edvard Beyer archive and Edvard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Edvard Beyer”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Edvard Beyer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.