Hans Peter L'Orange (academic)

Hans Peter L'Orange

Hans Peter L'Orange (2 March 1903 – 5 December 1983) was a Norwegian art historian and classical archaeologist.

Biography

L'Orange was born in Kristiania as a son of Major General Hans Wilhelm L'Orange (1868–1950) and Ginni Gulbranson (1879–1949). His family had its origin from among the French Huguenots. He was a paternal grandson of Hans Peter L'Orange, maternal grandson of Carl August Gulbranson, and brother-in-law of journalist and writer, Gunnar Larsen (1900–1958).

From 1930 to 1936 he was a university fellow resident in Rome. He took the dr.philos. degree in 1933 with his thesis Studien zur Geschichte des spätantiken Porträts. He was a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Oslo from 1942 to 1973. In 1959 he and professor Hjalmar Torpe established the Norwegian Institute in Rome (Det norske institutt i Roma) as an affiliate of the University of Oslo. The institute established a permanent Norwegian base for research and studies of the Mediterranean countries. He was director of the institute until he retired in 1973.

He was a visiting professor at Harvard University (1950) and at Johns Hopkins University (1966–1967). In 1969 he was awarded the Arts Council Norway Honorary Award (Norsk kulturråds ærespris).