Leiv Amundsen was a Norwegian librarian and philologist.

He was born in Tjøme

Tjøme

Tjøme is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tjøme. The parish of Tjømø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .-Name:...

 as a son of sailmaker Carl Amundsen (1851–1916) and Henrikke Elise Andersen (1857–1923). He attended upper secondary school in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

, and worked at the University Library of Oslo

University Library of Oslo

The University Library of Oslo is a library connected to the University of Oslo.Like the University, it was established in 1811 with Georg Sverdrup as the first head librarian. It originally doubled as the Norwegian national library, and was located at the old University of Oslo campus.In 1913 the...

 at the same time as studying classical philology

Classical philology

Classical philology is the study of ancient Greek and classical Latin. Classical philology has been defined as "the careful study of the literary and philosophical texts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds." Greek and Latin literature and civilization have traditionally been considered...

 at 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...

. He never actually graduated from the university, but was instead promoted manager of the manuscript colletion at the University Library in 1923. He specialized in papyrology

Papyrology

Papyrology is the study of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., as preserved in manuscripts written on papyrus, the most common form of writing material in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome...

, first as the assistant of Samson Eitrem. He was a research fellow

Research fellow

The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...

 with Rockefeller grants from 1926 to 1929, and studied abroad. Among others he was a part of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 Archaeological Expedition in Karanis

Karanis

Karanis , located in modern Kom Aushim, was an agricultural town in Graeco-Roman Egypt,located in the northeast corner of the Fayum."It was one of a number of towns established in the Arsinoite nome under Ptolemy II Philadelphus as part of a scheme to settle Greek mercenaries among the indigenous...

, and published Greek Ostraca in the University of Michigan Collection. Part I. Texts in 1935. He took the dr.philos. degree in 1933, and was hired as a docent at the Royal Frederick University in 1935. He was promoted to professor in 1946. Amundsen was also secretary-general of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

 from 1954 to 1961. He had been a fellow of the Academy since 1935. He retired in 1968.

Throughout his career he published diaries and letters of Bernhard Herre, Camilla Collett

Camilla Collett

Jacobine Camilla Collett was a Norwegian writer, often referred to as the first Norwegian feminist. She was also the younger sister of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, and is recognized as being one of the first contributors to realism in Norwegian literature...

, Peter Jonas Collett and Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...

. In 1976 he co-published the correspondence between Johan Ernst Gunnerus

Johan Ernst Gunnerus

Johan Ernst Gunnerus was a Norwegian bishop and botanist. Gunnerus was born at Christiania. He was bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1758 until his death and also a professor of theology at the University of Copenhagen....

 and Carl von Linné between 1761 and 1772. He also published the two-volume history of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, in 1957 and 1960, and wrote large parts of the two-volume work on the University of Oslo from 1911 to 1961. He also contributed significantly to the first edition of Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles...

, and edited Gyldendals nye konversasjonsleksikon, issued in four editions between 1948 and 1958.

From May 1928 Amundsen was married to Inger Sandberg (1898–1985). He died in June 1987 in Bærum

Bærum

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....

. He had lived at Stabekk

Stabekk

Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Mainly a residential area and have most of the conservative population in Norway the current population is 6,261....

and Capralhaugen.