Elmer H. Antonsen
Born(1929-11-17)17 November 1929
Died25 August 2008(2008-08-25) (aged 78)
NationalityAmerican
Academic background
Alma materUnion College (B.A.)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Ph.D.)
ThesisThe Investigation of I-Mutation in the Germanic Languages
Doctoral advisorErnst Alfred Philippson
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Elmer H. Antonsen (17 November 1929 – 25 August 2008) was an American philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Antonsen was born in Glens Falls, New York on 17 November 1929 to Haakon Jharl and Astrid Amelia (Sommer) Antonsen. He earned degrees in German at Union College where he took the B.A. degree, and then at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where he studied under Ernst Alfred Philippson for his doctorate. He taught German Studies, Germanic Philology and Germanic Linguistics at the University of Iowa in the 1960s before moving back to the University of Illinois to eventually rise to Full Professor. Antonsen served as Head of the department of Germanic languages and literatures from 1973 - 1982 and of the department of linguistics from 1990-92. He was visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972-73 and at University of Göttingen in 1988. He retired in 1996, and was awarded professor emeritus status. He was a known expert on runology.

Antonsen died in Urbana, Illinois on 25 August 2008.

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