Anders Sandvig

Anders Sandvig (11 May 1862 – 11 February 1950) was a Norwegian dentist most noted for having founded Maihaugen, an innovative regional ethnological and architectural museum in Lillehammer, documenting the vernacular architecture of Gudbrandsdalen.

Career

Sandvig was born at Bud in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He first worked as an apprentice with a jeweler in Kristiansund. He was trained as a dentist in Kristiansund with later training at the University of Oslo and in Berlin. He contracted tuberculosis and in 1885 moved to Lillehammer to start a dentist practice and promote his recovery. At this time he was the only dentist in Gudbrandsdalen.

On a travel to Skjåk in 1894, he came to the realization that Norwegian farmers had not yet begun to appreciate their cultural heritage. He acquired his first house, a dwelling house built in 1764 that had previously been described by Eilert Sundt. It was known as Lykrestua and Sandvig set it up in his backyard. By the turn of the century he had six antiquarian buildings and a large amount of other objects.

The city of Lillehammer set aside an area known as Maihaugen and bought Sandvig's collection and established the Sandvig Collections (De Sandvigske Samlinger) in 1904. Sandvig was at first hired as unpaid curator, but was later appointed the museum's first director. In addition to expanding the museum significantly, Sandvig also traveled extensively to promote ethnological museums, including Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa. He retired from the museum in 1947, at 85 years of age.