Ingrid Semmingsen

Ingrid Elisabeth Semmingsen (29 March 1910 in Hamar, Hedmark – 31 May 1995) was a Norwegian historian. Appointed as a professor at the University of Oslo in 1963, she was the first female professor of history in Norway.

Personal life Semmingsen was born in Hamar, as the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel and farmer Peter Thorvald Gaustad (1878–1949) and his wife Gudvor, née Todderud (1884–1956). She grew up at a farm in Stange Municipality. In 1939 she married Rolf Ingvar Semmingsen, a bureaucrat who served as director of the Norwegian Price Directorate.

Career Semmingsen took the cand.philol. degree in 1935 with a paper on the lower class in her native Hedmark from 1850 to 1900. She appeared on radio programs with popular singer Alf Prøysen, who came from a similar social background. Her grandfather and great-grandfather had both been involved in the Marcus Thrane movement. Ingrid was a member of the radical group Mot Dag for a short period. as well as the work Veien mot vest in two volumes in 1941 and 1950. The second volume earned her the dr.philos. degree in 1951, becoming the first female history doctor in Norway. Lovoll has cited Semmingsen as his primary inspiration, and called her body of work a "national treasure".

Semmingsen was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 1952, and held honorary degrees at the Uppsala University and St. Olaf College. She was also a deputy member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Her last article was printed in 1988, and she died in 1995 in Oslo.

Selected works Veien mot vest (2 volumes) (1941 and 1950) En verdensmakt blir til. De forente staters historie (1946) Standssamfunnets oppløsning i Norge (1954) Amerikabrev (1958) Husmannsminner (1960) Drøm og dåd. Utvandringen til Amerika (1975); translated as Norway to America: A History of the Migration (1980)