Gerhard Gran

Gerhard von der Lippe Gran (9 December 1856 – 7 April 1925) was a Norwegian literary historian, professor, magazine editor, essayist and biographer.

Personal life Gran was born in Bergen as the son of merchant Christen Knagenhjelm Gran (1822–1899) and his wife Constance Mowinckel (1827–1889). He was the paternal grandson of politician Jens Gran, and a second cousin of botanist Haaken Hasberg Gran and aviator Tryggve Gran. On the maternal side was a first cousin of Wenche von der Lippe Mowinckel, who was a granddaughter of Jacob von der Lippe and mother of Arthur, Waldemar and Gerhard C. Kallevig. Wenche lived with Gerhard Gran's family while attending school.

In October 1887 he married Maren Elisabeth Bull Sømme (1857–1930), a daughter of merchant and politician Jacob Jørgen Kastrup Sømme and his wife Johanne Margrethe "Hanna" Bull Kielland, As such Gerhard Gran was the brother-in-law of painter Jacob Kielland Sømme. Through his sisters he was a brother-in-law of art historian Johan Bøgh and physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen.

Gran had co-founded the Samtiden periodical in 1890 with Jørgen Brunchorst, and was the editor of this magazine until his death in 1925. When the magazine changed its house of publishing to H. Aschehoug & Co in 1900, Gran profited from his professional relationship with publisher William Martin Nygaard. In 1914, much due to the support of Nygaard, he started the magazine Edda. Scandinavian Journal of Literary Research, and was this magazine's first editor-in-chief, from 1914 to 1925. He was also the Norwegian editor of the Scandinavian Nordisk Tidsskrift from 1904. He initiated the first edition of the encyclopedia Norsk biografisk leksikon, and was co-editor for the first two volumes.

Gran was appointed Officer of the French Légion d'honneur and a Knight, First class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav in 1905. He was also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. He died in 1925 in Oslo.