Peter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections are commonly mentioned only as "Asbjørnsen and Moe".
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He became a student at the University of Oslo in 1833, but as early as 1832, in his twentieth year, he had begun to collect and write down fairy tales and legends. He later walked on foot the length and breadth of Norway, adding to his stories.
Asbjørnsen became by profession a zoologist, and with the aid of the University of Oslo made a series of investigative voyages along the coasts of Norway, particularly in the Hardangerfjord.
In 1842–1843 the first installment of his work appeared, under the title of Norske Folkeeventyr (Norwegian Folk Tales), which was received at once all over Europe as a most valuable contribution to comparative mythology as well as literature. In 1845 Asbjørnsen also published a collection of Norwegian fairy tales (Huldre-Eventyr og Folkesagn).
In 1876, he retired from these duties with a pension. He was made a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences in Trondheim. He died in Christiania in 1885.
(source: wikipedia)