Einar Lauritzen

Einar Lauritzen was the first Director of the Filmhistoriska Samlingarna (the Swedish Film Archive), one of the oldest film archives in the world, and he remained in this post until the archive merged with the Svenska Filminstitutet (Swedish Film Institute) in 1963. He started attending FIAF Congresses as early as in 1946, and he became a highly respected and discreetly influential figure of the FIAF community in the post-war period. He was FIAF Treasurer for a number of years between 1958 and 1965. Elected FIAF Honorary Member during the 1965 General Assembly in Oslo, he continued to regularly attend FIAF Congresses and Executive Committee meetings in that capacity for several decades - his last Congress appearance was in Stockholm in 2003, 57 years after his first Congress. 

Lauritzen, with his colleague Gunnar Lundquist, made an important contribution to research in early American cinema with the two volumes of The American Film-Index, a comprehensive filmography covering the periods 1908-1915 and 1916-1920, which his personal fortune helped fund (they are still available via the FIAF Secretariat).

Paul C. Spehr, "Einar Lauritzen (1912-2005): archivist, historian, film lover", Journal of Film Preservation, Issue 70, November 2005, pp.64-67

Christian Dimitriu, "Einar Lauritzen - dandy discret et mécène éclairé (1912-2005)", Journal of Film Preservation, Issue 70, Nov 2005, pp.68-71

Einar Lauritzen, "Filmhistoriska Samlingarna: A Report", FIAF News Bulletin, No19, August 1959, pp.1-35 (full issue, French/English)

Einar Lauritzen, "The Swedish Film Archive: the first 30 years", FIAF Information Bulletin, Issue 24, April 1983, p. 25-27