Abbi Patrix is a famous storyteller based in Paris. He is also Gerhard Armauer Hansen’s great grandson, and recently visited Norway to plan the anniversary.

 

The main purpose of the trip was to visit Ole Didrik Lærum, renown cancer researcher and former rector at the University of Bergen, at his home in Voss. Lærum has his own private museum and archive, including Armauer Hansen’s private collection.

The Hansen-collection consists of five meters of documents and publications, including Hansen’s baptism certificate, previously unseen family pictures, and unpublished manuscripts. This was collected by Gerhard Armauer Hansen’s granddaughter, Johanne-Margrethe Patrix, who in 1997 published a biography of Hansen.

Johanne-Margrethe spent decades writing the biography and went to great lengths to collect documents from the family attic, from houses where Hansen had lived, and from his neighbors. After she passed away in 2012, the archive has not been touched.

 

Discussing the future of the collection, and making it available, was an important mission for the visit. This purpose was made urgent, as Ole Didrik Lærum was diagnosed with a serious illness. He passed away on January 24, 2023, and will be sorely missed.

Abbi Patrix also had meetings with the director of the University Library, Maria-Carme Torras Calvo, with state archivist Yngve Nedrebø, and with vice rector at the University of Bergen, Gottfried Greve.