Bothne, Gisle, 1860-1934

Gisle Christian Johnson Bothne was born on September 7, 1860 in Frederickshald, Norway, the son of Thrond Johnson and Johanne Okland Bothne. He received his early education in Norway. The family emigrated to the United States in 1876 when Bothne's father accepted a professorial position at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Bothne enrolled in Luther College and received his bachelor of arts degree in 1878. He then pursued graduate work at Northwestern University in Watertown, Wisconsin (1878-1879) and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (1880). He received his master of arts degree from Luther College in 1881 and immediately became an instructor at that school, eventually becoming head of both the Scandinavian language and literature and the Greek departments. He also taught mathematics. He continued his graduate work at John Hopkins University in 1883-1884 and in the latter year was made a full professor at Luther College. In 1904 and 1905 he also spent a year studying at the universities of Oslo and Berlin and in Athens.

In 1907 he accepted the position of associate professor of Scandinavian languages and literature at the University of Minnesota. He was appointed head of that department in 1919, a position he held until his 1929 retirement.

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