Peter A. Munch
Peter Andreas Munch (December 19, 1908 – January 10, 1984) was a Norwegian-born sociologist, educator, and writer.
Biography
Peter Andreas Munch was born December 19, 1908, at
.He studied theology at the
During 1937 and 1938, he was a member of the
Munch immigrated to the United States in 1948 as a research associate in Rural Sociology at the
The experience that more than any other defined Munch's career was his reestablished connection with the islanders of Tristan da Cunha. In 1961, a volcanic eruption on the remote island forced evacuation of the entire population, never before exposed to modern life, to an abandoned Royal Air Force base in southern England. Munch quickly applied for research grants to visit the evacuees and to study their adaptation to modern European life. He found that most islanders were unhappy in their new homes and was relieved when the British government agreed to finance the resettlement of Tristan da Cunha in 1963, when the volcano was again dormant. More grants enabled Munch to visit the islanders on Tristan in 1964-1965 for additional research; a visit that resulted in lectures, books, and articles contributing to our understanding of anarchy,[2][3] atomism,[4] acculturation in social systems,[5] and to our general knowledge of community and social values.
From 1960 until 1964, he was editor of The Sociological Quarterly. He belonged to numerous professional organizations, serving as officer of the Midwest Sociological Society, Illinois Folklore Society, and the Norwegian-American Historical Association. Munch authored several books and more than 80 articles and chapters in professional publications. He was elected to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1983. After his death, memorial ceremonies were held at the University of North Dakota, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian-American Historical Association, the University of North Dakota, and Southern Illinois University.
Personal life and family
Peter Munch was the scion of two well-known Norwegian families. He was the second cousin of the painter Edvard Munch (1868-1944) and the first cousin thrice removed of his own namesake, the historian Peter Andreas Munch (1810-1863). His great-grandfather was the poet and bishop Johan Storm Munch 1778-1832), whose son, Munch's grandfather, Johan Storm Munch (evangelist) (1827-1898) served as missionary to the United States and was the subject of Munch's book, The Strange American Way. Peter Munch's aunt was the feminist and early female surgeon Kristine Munch and his great-uncle the poet Andreas Munch.
On his mother's side, Munch was the grandson of architect/engineer
In 1934, Peter Munch married Helene Stephansen, with whom he had three children. Dr. Munch died in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee at 75 years of age in 1984.[6]
Peter A. Munch Collection
Dr. Peter A. Munch was the creator of a collection of material comprising archives from Tristan da Cunha. The materials were donated by the Munch family and are now housed in the Saint Louis Room at Saint Louis University Archives.[7]
Publications
Books
- The Expression Bajjôm Hāhū: Is it an Eschatological Terminus Technicus?, The Norwegian Academy of Sciences, Klasse 36, No. 2, pp. 69, Jacob Dybwad, Oslo (1936)
- Sociology of Tristan da Cunha. Results of the Norwegian Scientific Expedition to Tristan da Cunha, 1937-1938 (1945) ISBN 978-0-685-87356-4
- Some Sociological Terms and Concepts, The Norwegian Academy of Sciences, Klasse 1945, No.2, pp. 37, Jacob Dybwad, Oslo (1946)
- Landhandelen i Norge, Halvorsen & Larsen (1948)
- A Study of Cultural change: Rural-Urban Conflicts in Norway, Studia Norvegica, No. 9. H. Aschehoug & Co. Oslo (1956)
- The Strange American Way, S. Illinois Univ. (1970) ISBN 978-0-8093-0440-0
- The Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha (1970) ISBN 978-0-391-02076-4
- Crisis in Utopia. The Ordeal of Tristan da Cunha (1971) ISBN 0-690-22075-8
- Glimpsing Utopia: Tristan da Cunha 1937-38. A Norwegian's Diary, ed. and translated from the Norwegian, Cathrine Munch Snyder, George Mann Publications. Hampshire, UK (2008) ISBN 9780955241581
Articles Several articles by Peter A. Munch are referenced within this stub. The complete Curriculum Vitae is available from Cathrine E. Snyder.
References
- ^ Social Security Death Index Social Security Administration)
- ^ Munch, Peter A., Culture and Superculture in a Displaced Community: Tristan da Cunha, Ethnology 3, 1964, pp. 369-376.
- ^ Munch, Peter A., Anarchy and Anomie in an Atomistic Community, Man 9/2 (September 1974), pp. 243-261.
- ^ Munch, Peter A. and Charles Marske, Atomism and Social Integration, Journal of Anthropological Research, 37/2, 1981.
- ^ Munch, Peter A., Social Class and Acculturation, in The Strange American Way, Peter A. Munch and Helene Munch (eds.) Southern Illinois Press, 1970
- ^ Dr. Peter Munch, 75; Sociologist and Author (The New York Times. January 19, 1984)[1]
- ^ Peter A. Munch/Tristan da Cunha Collection (Saint Louis University) Archived 2008-05-12 at the Wayback Machine