Head and shoulders image of Dr. Ansten Anstensen, head, Department of Germanic Languages, seated at his desk.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Ansten Anstensen was born near Skien, Norway, the home of Norway's famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen. He served as acting Lieutenant-Commander, RCNVR/Naval Control Boarding Service, in recognition of his development of strategies for expediting maritime shipping as part of the war effort. He also worked with the Norwegian Resistance in England, interviewing sailors and survivors, and conferring with King George VI. He was later named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Edna Anstensen (d. 1971), Ansten’s wife, compiled A Summary of Reports on the Modern Foreign Language, published in 1931. Edna was Secretary to the Commander of Norwegian Forces in Halifax, Nova Scotia during World War II. Dr. Anstensen's doctoral dissertation at Columbia University was published as The Proverb of Ibsen. As a young teacher at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, he was one of the original translators of Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. The effort involved translating proverbs and folk expressions into English, where there often were not obvious equivalents. Dr. Anstensen founded the German Department at the University of Saskatchewan. With this background of both husband and wife, Dr. Anstensen served with the British High Commission for Germany, reviewing revisions in Germany University education in the immediate post war, post Nazi period. Dr. Anstensen was a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations 15th Session (1960-1963). Dr. Anstensen, in the name of his only child, Linda Anstensen (1935-2007), founded a bursary at the University of Saskatchewan to provide funds for a needy student of the German language. Dr. Anstensen died in Saskatoon in 1981.