Personal life

He was born in Frankfurt am Main as a son of engineer Nils Botvid Anker (1878–1943) and artist and pianist Gudrun Nilssen (1875–1958). He grew up in Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker

Vestre Aker is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.The previous municipality Aker was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948.The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 January 2004 reform. Previous boroughs...

 and Lillehammer

Lillehammer

is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

. He was a brother of Synnøve Anker Aurdal, and through her a brother-in-law of Ludvig Eikaas

Ludvig Eikaas

Ludvig Eikaas was a Norwegian painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Eikaas was among the first artists in Norway to work in a purely non-figurative idiom.-Biography:...

. Through another sister Ella he was a brother-in-law of Frede Castberg

Frede Castberg

Frede Castberg was a Norwegian jurist. The son of Johan Castberg, he served as professor and rector at the University of Oslo as well as president of the Hague Academy of International Law.-Personal life:...

. He was a great-grandson of Peter Martin Anker

Peter Martin Anker (politician)

Peter Martin Anker was a Norwegian politician.He was a son of wholesaler Niels Anker . He was also a third cousin of Karen Anker, Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg's wife. Together with Thrine Gløersen he had the children Nils Anker, Herman Anker, Christian August Anker and Dikka Møller...

, grandson of Herman Anker, nephew of Katti Anker Møller

Katti Anker Møller

Katti Anker Møller was a Norwegian feminist, children's rights advocate, and a pioneer of reproductive rights. She is known to posterity as the "advocate of mothers."...

 (and her husband Kai Møller) and Ella Anker

Ella Anker

Eli Birgit "Ella" Anker was a Norwegian magazine journalist, newspaper correspondent, playwright and pamphleteer.-Personal life:...

, grandnephew of Nils Anker

Nils Anker

Nils Anker was a Norwegian politician.He was a son of politician Peter Martin Anker. He was a brother of Herman Anker, Christian August Anker and Dikka Møller, uncle of Katti Anker Møller, Ella Anker and Johan Anker and granduncle of Øyvind Anker, Synnøve Anker Aurdal, Peter Martin Anker and Tove...

, Christian August Anker and Dikka Møller, and a first cousin of Peter Martin Anker

Peter Martin Anker (diplomat)

Peter Martin Anker was a Norwegian diplomat. He worked for the League of Nations, Red Cross and United Nations before, during and after the Second World War. He was then an ambassador in different European, Asian and African countries from 1951 to 1973...

 and Tove Mohr.

In March 1933 he married pianist Eva Høst (1908–1968).

Career

He finished

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...

 his secondary education in 1923, attended the Norwegian Military Academy

Norwegian Military Academy

The Norwegian Army Academy was established in 1750. It is the oldest university-level educational institution in Norway, and one of the oldest active military academies in the world. Krigsskolen primarily educates officers for the Norwegian Army. There are separate academies for the Royal...

 for one year before studying 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 graduated with the cand.philol. degree in Norwegian in 1931, with the master's thesis Bjørnson og Grundtvig inntil 1872. He had been hired 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...

 already in 1929, and continued working there after graduating. From 1936 he was the manager of the Norwegian National Music Collection, but in 1943 he was arrested by Nazi Germans

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

 as a part of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and imprisoned in concentration camps for two years.

His first publication as a librarian was Rikard Nordraak. Samlede verker with Olav Gurvin

Olav Gurvin

Olav Gurvin was a Norwegian musicologist, a professor at the University of Oslo from 1957. He co-edited the first Norwegian music encyclopedia in 1949, and edited the magazine Norsk Musikkliv from 1942 to 1951.-Personal life:Gurvin was born in Tysnes as the son of teacher Elling Olson Gurvin and...

 in 1942. The two published the music encyclopedia Musikkleksikon in 1949, and Anker had also edited the general encyclopedia Nyco konversasjonsleksikon together with Rolf Haffner in 1935. Anker co-edited volumes 13 through 19 of the biographical dictionary

Biographical dictionary

Biographical dictionaries – a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information – have been written in many languages. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country...

 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...

from 1957 to 1983. He also made research and lectured on theatre history, collected and published letters from Bernhard Dunker, Amalie Skram

Amalie Skram

Amalie Skram was a Norwegian author and feminist who gave voice to a woman's point of view with her naturalist writing. She moved to Denmark in 1894 where she settled in Copenhagen with her husband, the Danish writer Erik Skram...

, Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

 and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...

, and wrote a biography on Karoline Bjørnson

Karoline Bjørnson

Karoline Bjørnson was a Norwegian actress. She is best known as the wife and supporter of poet, playwright, popular speaker and Nobel laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, being model for several of Bjørnson's literary women figures, and helping out with articles and other literary works. Several of...

. He was a subeditor of the journal Norsk Musikkliv from 1946 to 1950, and Norwegian editor of Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen

Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen

Nordisk tidskrift för bok- och biblioteksväsen was a Swedish bibliographical periodical. It was established in 1914 by Almqvist & Wiksell with Isak Collijn as its Editor-in-Chief. He was succeeded by Tönnes Kleberg in 1949, who was succeeded by Gert Hornwall in 1975. In 1990, Almqvist & Wiksell...

from 1954 to 1965.

Anker was a board member of Norsk Samfunn for Musikkgransking and the Norwegian Folk Music Research Association

Norwegian Folk Music Research Association

Norwegian Folk Music Research Association is a folk music society based in Trondheim, Norway.It was founded in 1948. The first president was Ole Mørk Sandvik, who sat until 1965. It organizes annual seminars and publishes the yearbook Norsk Folkemusikklags Skrifter...

, and chairman of Teaterhistorisk Selskap. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature

The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the Dano-Norwegian language. Its primary role is regulating the written standard known as Riksmål ....

 from 1953 (and secretary from 1969 to 1979) and 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 1965. He died in December 1989 in Oslo.