Francis Bull

Francis Bull
Francis Bull in 1925
Born	(1887-10-04)4 October 1887 Kristiania, Norway
Died	4 July 1974(1974-07-04) (aged 86)
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	Literary historian
Relatives	Johan Peter Bull (brother) Edvard Bull (brother) Theodor Bull (brother)
Awards	Order of St Olav

Francis Bull (4 October 1887 – 4 July 1974) was a Norwegian literary historian, professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years, essayist and speaker, and magazine editor.

Bull was born in Kristiania, as a son of medical doctor Edvard Isak Hambro Bull (1845–1925) and Ida Marie Sofie Paludan (1861–1957). He was a brother of theatre director Johan Peter Bull, historian and politician Edvard Bull and genealogist Theodor Bull. Through Edvard Bull he was the uncle of historian Edvard Bull. He was also a nephew of military officer Karl Sigwald Johannes Bull, grandnephew of Anders Sandøe Ørsted Bull, great-grandson of Georg Jacob Bull and great-great-grandson of Chief Justice Johan Randulf Bull.

In June 1924 he married Ingrid Berntsen (1896–1976).

Bull finished his secondary education, and enrolled at the University of Oslo, mainly being tutored by Gerhard Gran. As a student Bull wrote the monographies Conrad Nicolai Schwach (1908) and Bjørnson og Sverige (issued 1911). The last work earned him the cand.philol. degree. His doctoral dissertation of 1916 was titled Fra Holberg til Nordahl Brun.

Bull was appointed professor in Nordic literature at the University of Oslo in 1920, succeeding the aging Gerhard Gran. In addition to lecturing he co-edited the literary history Norsk litteraturhistorie (four volumes, 1924–1937). He worked on Norsk litteraturhistorie for many years, and as a byproduct of this endeavor he wrote hundreds of entries in the biographical dictionary Norsk biografisk leksikon, of which Gerhard Gran and Edvard Bull were two of the editors-in-chief.