Holberg, Ludwig, Baron Holberg, the creator of modern Danish literature, was born at Bergen in Norway, 3d December 1684. He took his degree at Copenhagen, and spent some fourteen years partly as private tutor and partly in travel, in the course of which he visited England (where he studied two years at Oxford), France, Italy, and Germany. In 1718 he was appointed professor of
Metaphysics at Copenhagen, but in 1720 exchanged that chair for the more lucrative one of Eloquence. The works that laid the foundation of his fame were satirical poems—first and foremost the serico-comic epic, written in iambics, of Peder Paars (1719-20), in which he ridicules the pedantic stiffness and stupidity of contemporary life and thought, and after this Hans Mikkelsen's Jesting Poems (1722) and Hans Mikkelsen's Metamorphoses (1726). But in 1721 the first Danish theatre was opened at Copenhagen, and Holberg tried his hand at comedy-writing, with, as it turned out, marvellous success. His excellent light comedies, on account of their genuine wit, comic humour, and skilful character-drawing, are counted by the Danes amongst the best things in all their literature. They were published by their author in a collected form in 1723-25, and again, with five new plays added, in 1731-54. In 1730 Holberg became professor of History, and seven years later quæstor of the university; and in 1747 he was ennobled. He died at Copenhagen on 28th January 1754. Perhaps the most noticeable feature in Holberg's character is the versatility of his genius. After 1724 he again turned his pen to history, and wrote, amongst other books, a History of Denmark, a General Church History, a History of the Jews, and Comparative Biographies of Great Men and Women, all greatly esteemed, particularly the first. Then in 1741 he produced another classic of Danish literature, the satirico-humoric romance Niels Klim's Subterranean Journey; and lastly he wrote serious reflective works, Moral Thoughts (1744) and Epistles (1748-54). His Autobiography (1727-43) should also be mentioned. Peder Paars, the Subterranean Journey, and the Autobiography have been translated into English.
The best critical edition of his Comedies is that published by the Holberg Society in 8 vols. 1848-53 (new ed. 1884). See the monographs by Rahbek (1815-17), Werauff (1838), Prutz (1857), and G. Brandes (Holberg und seine Zeitgenossen, Berlin, 1885).