Jean-Nickolaus Tretter

Jean-Nickolaus Tretter (1946 – December 9, 2022) was an American activist and LGBT archivist who created the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies, housed by the University of Minnesota.

Tretter was also the host of KFAI radio show Night Rivers, and the co-chair of the Minnesota Gay and Lesbian Olympic Committee. He co-organised the first Twin Cities commemoration of the Stonewall Riots in 1972. thumb

Early life, education and military service

Tretter grew up in Little Falls, Minnesota and studied initially linguistics.

After graduating, Tretter served with the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War.

Tretter's LGBT collection grew over the decades and he donated it to the Andersen Library in Minnesota in 2000.

Personal life and death Display at memorial service at the Elmer L. Andersen Library Tretter came out as gay in the early 1970s, after leaving the Navy.