Gunnar Fougner Høst was a Norwegian philologist and literary historian.

He was born in Kristiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 as a son of Sigurd Høst (1866–1939) and Isabella Vibe (1870–1937). He was a great-grandson of Ludvig Vibe

Ludvig Vibe

Frederik Ludvig Vibe was a Norwegian philologist and educator.He was born in Bergen as a son of County Governor Niels Andreas Vibe and Margery Kierulff . He was a nephew of Johan Vibe and Ditlev Wibe, brother of Henriette Gislesen, brother-in-law of Heinrich Arnold Thaulow and second cousin of...

, and a half-brother of Inger Alver Gløersen

Inger Alver Gløersen

Inger Wenche Alver Gløersen was a Norwegian smallholder and writer.She was born in Fåberg to teacher Johan Ludvig Alver and Isabella Vibe . She was a great-granddaughter of Ludvig Vibe and a niece of Amalie Skram, née Amalie Alver. Her family lived in Kongsberg and Kristiania during her youth...

. He married literary researcher Else Marie Røysland

Else Høst

Else Marie Høst, née Røysland was a Norwegian literary historian.She was born in Stavanger. In 1931 she married philologist Gunnar Høst , and became a daughter-in-law of Sigurd Høst....

 (1908–1996) in 1931.

Høst took his examen artium

Examen artium

Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...

 in 1918, and graduated from the Royal Frederick University

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 with the cand.philol. degree in 1925. He was a teacher at Trondhjem Cathedral School from 1925 to 1927, and at Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 from 1927 to 1930. He worked at the Royal Frederick University from 1930, but was not promoted to lecturer until 1937. He has been called one of the "Great Three" in Norwegian francology in the 1930s, together with Peter Rokseth and Charles Gobinot. He released the work L'œuvre de Jean Giraudoux about Jean Giraudoux

Jean Giraudoux

Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy...

 in 1942, and it earned him the dr.philos. degree in 1945. He was promoted to docent

Docent

Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...

in 1965, and retired in 1968. His last significant book releases came in 1970 and 1971, co-written with his wife. He died in August 1983 in Oslo.