Peter A. Munch - Biography

Biography

Peter Andreas Munch was born in Nes, in Hedmark county, Norway. He studied theology at the University of Oslo receiving a Candidatus theologiæ degree in 1932. During 1937 and 1938, he was a scientific member of the Norwegian expedition to Tristan da Cunha. During 1943 and 1944, he was imprisoned by the German occupation forces. In 1944, he studied sociology and graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy in 1946 with a thesis titled Sociology of Tristan da Cunha based on the gemeinschaft concepts introduced by Ferdinand Tönnies. After 1946, he completed linguistic studies at the University of Oxford and University of Wittenberg.

Munch immigrated to the United States where in 1951 he became a professor at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. In 1957, he was called to a sociological chair at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Munch worked there until his death, mainly in the fields of cultural anthropology, rural, and maritime sociology. From 1960 until 1964, he was editor of The Sociological Quarterly. He was also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.