Georg Morgenstierne

Georg Morgenstierne
Born	2 January 1892 Oslo, Norway
Died	3 March 1978 (aged 86) Oslo, Norway
Era	20th century
Region	Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran
School	Descriptive linguistics
Main interests	Indo-Iranian languages

Georg Valentin von Munthe af Morgenstierne (2 January 1892 Oslo, Norway – 3 March 1978, Oslo, Norway) was a Norwegian professor of linguistics with the University of Oslo (UiO). He specialized in Indo-Iranian languages.

Studies

During the years 1923 to 1971, Morgenstierne carried out fieldwork in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran. In 1924, he undertook the first of his two major linguistic expeditions. He arrived in Kabul with a personal letter of introduction to the King of Afghanistan, from the King of Norway. Together with studying the languages, Morgenstierne collected remarkable scientific materials from the culture of the regional people, like images, movies from pre-Islamic ceremonial dances and sound recordings from nearly extinct languages. The materials are available in his database at the National Library of Norway.

Writings

• His publications listed in BIBSYS
• Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9
• Report on a Linguistic Mission to North-Western India by Georg Morgenstierne ISBN 0-923891-14-5

Further reading

• Nils Johan Ringdal: Georg Valentin von Munthe af Morgenstiernes forunderlige liv og reiser Aschehoug 2008 ISBN 978-82-03-18833-6 (in Norwegian)
• Ulf Andenæs: En norsk legende i Orienten. Bokanmeldelse i Aftenposten Kultur 22 May 2008 side 10 (in Norwegian)

External links

• National Library of Norway
• Search the general Morgenstierne database in the National Library of Norway site