Hanna Astrup Larsen (1873-1945) was a anthropologist, writer and translator. She translated among others, Knut Hamsun, Jens Peter Jacobsen and a book with Norwegians best short stories titled Norway’s best stories.

She was the daughter of Ingeborg Astrup and Laur Larsen, Luther College’s first president. She grew up in Decorah, Iowa being home schooled by her mother and in the presence of brothers and sisters. Through Norwegian American connections, Hanna was given the opportunity in January of 1897, at the age of 24, accompanied by her uncle and aunt Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Astrup, to join her sister Marie in South Africa at a Zulu Mission Station. During her three years in Zululand on the Entumeni Mission Hanna was able to gain a first hand knowledge of Zulu culture as well as a collection of objects that were later donated to Luther College. Once back in Decorah in the spring of 1900, Hanna was able to look at the world with a new cultural perspective.