Henrik Pontoppidan

Henrik Pontoppidan (born July 24, 1857, Fredericia, Denmark—died August 21, 1943, Ordrup, near Copenhagen) was a Realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for “his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark.” Pontoppidan’s novels and short stories—informed with a desire for social progress but despairing, later in his life, of its realization—present an unusually comprehensive picture of his country and his epoch.

The son of a clergyman, Pontoppidan partly revolted against his environment by beginning studies in engineering in Copenhagen in 1873. In 1879 he broke off his studies and became for several years a teacher. His first collection of stories, Stækkede Vinger (“Clipped Wings”), was published in 1881, and thereafter he supported himself by writing, until 1900 partly as a journalist with various Copenhagen papers.

Pontoppidan’s output—mainly novels and short stories written in an emotionally detached, epic style—stretches over half a century and covers most aspects of Danish life. It is usually characterized by a blend of social criticism and aristocratic disillusionment and is expressive of a pessimistic irony.

His first books were about country-town life. Landsbybilleder (1883; “Village Pictures”), Fra Hytterne (1887; “From the Cottages”), and Skyer (1890; “Clouds”) are all characterized by social indignation, though also by ironic appreciation of the complacency and passivity of country people. The long novel Det Forjættede Land, 3 vol. (1891–95; The Promised Land), describes the religious controversies in country districts. In the 1890s Pontoppidan wrote short novels on psychological, aesthetic, and moral problems—for example, Nattevagt (1894; “Night Watch”), Den Gamle Adam (1895; “The Old Adam”), and Højsang (1896; “Song of Songs”). These were followed by a major work, the novel Lykke-Per (1898–1904; Lucky Per, originally published in eight volumes), in which the chief character bears some resemblance to Pontoppidan himself. He is a clergyman’s son who rebels against the puritanical atmosphere of his home and seeks his fortune in the capital as an engineer. The novel’s theme is the power of environment, and national tendencies toward daydreaming and fear of reality are condemned.

Pontoppidan’s great novel De dødes rige, 5 vol. (1912–16; “The Realm of the Dead”), shows his dissatisfaction with political developments after the liberal victory of 1901 and with the barrenness of the new era. His final novel, Mands Himmerig (1927; “Man’s Heaven”), describes neutral Denmark during World War I and attacks carefree materialism. His last important work was the four volumes of memoirs that he published between 1933 and 1940 and that appeared in a collected and abridged version, entitled Undervejs til mig selv (1943; “On the Way to Myself”).