Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Danish writer, considered the founder of Danish literature. He was born in Bergen, Norway, and educated at the universities of Copenhagen and Oxford. He taught at the University of Copenhagen and in 1747 was made baron Holberg.

At a time when the only literary use of Danish was in hymns and ballads, and plays on the Danish stage were given only in German or French, Holberg wrote a vast body of dramatic, poetic, and historical works that almost by themselves established Danish as a literary language. In all, he wrote more than a dozen successfully performed plays in Danish. They include the comedies Den Vaegelsindede (The Waverer, 1722) and Henrik eg Pernille (1724). His poem Pedar Paars (1719; translated 1962), a satire on contemporary manners, is a Danish classic. Other verse satires are Metamorphosis (1726) and Niels Klim's Subterranean Journey (1741; translated 1960). Holberg also wrote a history of Denmark and a volume of philosophical essays. His letters were published in five volumes between 1748 and 1754.