Gudmund Stang (1933-2002)

In January 2002, the Nordic countries lost one of their pioneering Latin Americanists, Gudmund Stang, a brilliant man with a strong personality. His parents were Norwegian, but he was born in Buenos Aires in 1933. His father, Einar, was a fine artist whose drawings captured images of the River Plate countryside. Gudmund received an Anglo-Argentine education. He remained a member of the Anglican Church until his death. In 1951 he returned to Nor-way to carry out his military service. Then he began his studies, with a focus on history, at the University of Oslo until his graduation in 1962. He was especially interested in the theory and methods of history and the social sciences and wrote his thesis on British historiography. At the same time he gathered an impressive knowledge and understanding of the philosophy, literature, art, and music of the Nordic countries, Britain, and Latin America. As assistant professor...