Winneshiek County IAGenWeb  Luther College through sixty years, 1861-1921 Pictures and Biographical information courtesy of Sharyl Ferrall

Gisle Bothne

Biographies, Luther College Preparatory Dept. & Luther College faculty biography, pgs 83-84 & 102

Gisle Christian Johnson Bothne, 1881 (Jan.)1883, 1884-1907. A. B., Luther College, 1878; A. B., Northwestern University, Watertown, Wis., 1879; Student of Classical Philology, Johns Hopkins University, 1879-1880; Teacher of Parochial School, Minneapolis, Minn., 1880; Teacher of Greek, Luther College, 1881-1883, German, 1881, Latin, 1881-1882, English, 1881-1882, Algebra, 1881-1882, History, 1882-1883, and Norwegian, 1882-1883; A. M., Luther College, 1883; Graduate Student in Greek, Johns Hopkins University, 1883-1884; Professor of Greek, Luther College, 1884-1907, Mathematics, 1884-1894, English, 1884-1885, History, 1885-1886, Norwegian, 1885-1907, and Principal of the Preparatory Department, 1891-1896; studied in Norway, Greece, and Germany, on leave, 1904-1905; Professor of Scandinavian Languages and Literature, and Head of the Department, University of Minnesota, 1907—; Knight of the Order of St. Olav, 1911; Author of ""Det Norske Luther College, 1861-1897" (a history of Luther College up to 1897).

Gisle Bothne was born on September 7, 1860, in Fredrikshald, Norway. Here he attended the Latin school for nine years, until the spring of 1876, when his mother, Johanne (nee Okland) left Norway with the family to join his father, Thrond J. Bothne, who had gone to America the previous year to become professor at Luther College (Thrond Bothne was professor 1875-82). Gisle graduated from Luther College in 1878 (B. A.); from Northwestern University, Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1879; and then studied classical philology at Johns Hopkins University until 1880. He became professor at Luther College January, 1881, and remained until 1907 (M. A., 1883); in 1883-84 he again attended Johns Hopkins University; during 1903-04 he studied in Greece and at the universities of Berlin and Christiania. He was principal of the Preparatory Department 1891-96. In 1907 he accepted a call from the University of Minnesota as head of the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature, a position which he still holds. He has been president of the Norwegian Society of America; also is a member of the Norwegian-Danish Press Ass'n of America. In 1911 he was decorated by King Haakon of Norway and made a Knight of the Order of St. Olav. On June 27, 1895, he was married to Miss Kathrine Elise Brandt. They have two daughters: Dikka (B. A., University of Minnesota) is at the University of Christiania, Norway, on a scholarship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation; Agnes is a student at the University of Minnesota.

The Preparatory Department was formed in 1889, at first comprising three years. Prof. H. W. Sheel became the first principal, and when he took charge, in 1890, it fell to him to organize the new department. Prof. Gisle Bothne was the second principal. He served during the interval between Prof. Sheel's first and second terms—in 1891-96.

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