Peter L. Thorslev Jr.
American historian (1929-2011)
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Peter Larsen Thorslev Jr. (October 17, 1929 – October 13, 2011) was an American literary scholar. A 1965 Guggenheim Fellow, he wrote two books on Romantic-era literature: The Byronic Hero (1962) and Romantic Contraries (1984). He was one of the first openly LGBT academics at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Peter L. Thorslev Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 17, 1929 Harlan, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | October 13, 2011 (aged 81) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Literary scholar |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (1965) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Thesis | The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes (1959) |
| Academic work | |
Sub-discipline | Romantic-era literature |
| Institutions | |
Biography
Thorslev was born on October 17, 1929, in Harlan, Iowa.[1] His father Peter Larsen Thorslev emigrated from Denmark and worked as a minister in Canada, before becoming pastor of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kennard, Nebraska.[2][3] Later moving to Kennard,[4] he obtained his BA from Dana College in 1950.[1]
He did graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, obtaining his MA in 1957 and PhD in 1959;[1] his doctoral dissertation was titled The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes.[5] After spending one year at Northwestern University as an English instructor (1959-1960), he moved to the University of California, Los Angeles as assistant professor of English.[1] In 1966, he was promoted to associate professor.[1]
Thorslev specialized in Romantic-era literature. In 1962, he published The Byronic Hero, a monograph on the character archetype of the same name.[6] In 1965, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship "for a study of free will and determinism in the Romantic period".[1] Another book in the field, Romantic Contraries, was published in 1984.[7]
Thorslev was gay, reportedly being one of the first UCLA faculty members to come out.[8] He chaired the UCLA senate's academic freedom committee.[9] In 1988, he voiced concern about the state of the International Gay and Lesbian Archives (now part of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives) after they lost their original storage space due to financial issues.[10]
Thorslev died on October 13, 2011, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.[11] He was cremated and interred at St. James' Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, while a funeral took place on October 20 at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood.[11]