Per Høst

Per Høst (5 December 1907 – 28 December 1971) was a Norwegian zoologist, film producer and non-fiction writer known for his wildlife and ethnographic documentaries. After studying zoology at the University of Oslo and conducting research on Arctic wildlife, he shifted to filmmaking in the 1930s, producing educational nature shorts before creating feature-length documentaries. His work included about the Chocó people of Panama and (1957), which documented Sámi reindeer herders in northern Norway and was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Throughout his career, Høst produced content for schools, industry, the BBC, and the NRK, combining his scientific background with documentary filmmaking techniques that captured both natural environments and indigenous cultures.

Early life and education

Per Høst was born in Kristiania to Hans Andreas Høst (1874–1944) and Ragna Julie Pedersen Svenneby (1872–1959), and grew up in Stabekk. After finishing secondary school at Stabekk Upper Secondary School in 1927, he studied zoology at the University of Oslo from 1927 to 1931. While still a student he joined several Arctic expeditions to study seals and carried out pioneering research on reproduction, moult and plumage shedding in ptarmigan birds—a project that promised a distinguished academic career before he turned to film.