Stephan Tschudi-Madsen


Stephan Tschudi-Madsen was a Norwegian art historian and pioneer in the rediscovering of Art Nouveau in the 1950s. In Norway he is best known from his position as Director-general of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage – a chair he had between 1978–1991.

Early life

Tschudi-Madsen graduated in 1950 from the University of Oslo with a thesis in art history on romantic architecture. In 1952-1953 he worked as a British Council scholar in London. Professor Nikolaus Pevsner was one of his tutors and Tschudi-Madsen received his Ph.D. with the dissertation «Sources of Art Nouveau».

Career

Tschudi-Madsen worked as an antiquarian at the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway from 1959. He was active for the preservation of Norwegian wooden buildings during the European Architectural Heritage Year campaign that was organized in 1975. He was also one of the pioneers of rediscovering the qualities of the compact Art Nouveau townscape of Ålesund, Norway. He was strongly engaged in international cultural heritage through the association ICOMOS where he held a central position, and through UNESCOs work with World Heritage Sites. Under his leadership Urnes stave church and Bryggen in Bergen were listed, in 1979. For a period he was also vice president of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Tschudi-Madsen had a large academic production and was well known for his abilities as communicator. He was adviser for the restoration of the Royal Palace, Oslo, Supreme Court of Norway and Den Nationale Scene in Bergen. For a long period he was the president of Friends of Akershus Fortress. He was a great supporter for establishing an Art Nouveau Interpretation centre, Jugendstilsenteret in Ålesund, Norway. Between 1999-2003 he also worked as adviser for Jugendstilsenteret.
Tschudi-Madsen was member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Honorary Member of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments and Honorary Member of ICOMOS. He was Knight, First Class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, Commander of the Dutch Order of Oranje-Nassau, Knight of the Belgian Order of Leopold II and Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

Selected bibliography