Karl Adolph Gjellerup (; 2 June 1857 – 11 October 1919) was a Danish poet and novelist who together with his compatriot

Henrik Pontoppidan Henrik Pontoppidan (; 24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish 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 sh ...

won the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

in 1917. He is associated with the

Modern Breakthrough The Modern Breakthrough (; ; ) is the common name of the strong movement of naturalism and debating literature of Scandinavia which replaced romanticism near the end of the 19th century. The term "The Modern Breakthrough" is used about the per ...

period of

Scandinavian literature Scandinavian literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, and Scandinavia's associate ...

. He occasionally used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Epigonos.

Biography

Youth and debut

Gjellerup was the son of a vicar in

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

who died when his son was three years. Karl Gjellerup was raised then by the uncle of

Johannes Fibiger Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger (23 April 1867 – 30 January 1928) was a Danish physician and professor of anatomical pathology at the University of Copenhagen. He was the recipient of the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his disc ...

, he grew up in a national and romantic idealistic atmosphere. In the 1870s he broke with his background and at first he became an enthusiastic supporter of the

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

movement and

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

, writing audacious novels about

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

. Strongly influenced by his origin he gradually left the Brandes line and 1885 he broke totally with the naturalists, becoming a new

romanticist Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. A central trace of his life was his

Germanophile A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of Culture of Germany, German culture, Germans, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German ...

attitude, he felt himself strongly attracted to German culture (his wife was a German) and 1892 he finally settled in Germany, which made him unpopular in Denmark on both the right and left wing. As years passed he totally identified with the German Empire, including its war aims 1914–18. Among the early works of Gjellerup must be mentioned his most important novel (1882, i.e. ''The Germans' Apprentice''), a partly autobiographic tale of the development of a young man from being a

conformist Conformity or conformism is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to social group, group norms, politics or being like-minded. Social norm, Norms are implicit, specific rules, guidance shared by a group of individuals, that guide t ...

theologian to a pro-German atheist and intellectual, and (1889), on the surface, a love story but more of a study in woman's

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. Some Wagnerian dramas show his growing romanticist interests. An important work is the novel (1896, i. e. ''The Mill''), a sinister

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

of love and jealousy.

Later years

In his last years he was clearly influenced by

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and Oriental culture. His critically acclaimed work / (1906, i.e. ''The Pilgrim Kamanita'') has been called 'one of the oddest novels written in Danish'. It features the journey of Kamanita, an Indian merchant's son, from earthly prosperity and carnal romance, through the ups and downs of the world's way, a chance meeting with a stranger monk (who, unbeknownst to Kamanita, was actually

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

), death, and reincarnation towards

nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. In

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, which is a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

country, the Thai translation of ''The Pilgrim Kamanita'' co-translated by

Phraya Anuman Rajadhon Phraya Anuman Rajadhon (; , also spelled ''Phaya Anuman Rajadhon'' or ''Phrayā Anuman Rajadhon''; December 14, 1888 – July 12, 1969), was one of modern Thailand's most remarkable scholars. He was a self-trained linguist, anthropologist and e ...

was formerly used as part of the school textbooks. (1907, i.e. ''The wife of the perfect'') is a versified drama, inspired by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'', about

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

's earthly life as

Siddharta Siddhārtha is the male given name of the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha, Siddartha, or Siddharth may also refer to: Books * ''Siddhartha'' (novel), about a fictional contemporary of the Buddha, by Hermann Hesse * ''Siddhartha ...

, being inhibited in his spiritual efforts by his wife, Yasodhara. The giant novel (1910, i.e. ''The world roamers'') takes its contemporary starting point in a German female academic on a study tour in India, but evolves across chronological levels, in which characters re-experience what has happened in former eons, thus featuring souls roaming from one incarnation to another. (1913, i.e. ''The country practice of hysicianRudolph Sten'') is set in the rural Zealand of Gjellerup's youth. The main character develops from a liberal, superficial outlook on life, including youthful romantical conflicts, through years of reflection and ascetic devotion to duty towards a more mature standpoint, hinting at the author's own course of life. (1919, i.e. ''The holiest animal'') was Gjellerup's last work. Having elements of self-parody, it is regarded as his only attempt at humour. It is a peculiar mythological satire in which animals arrive at their own Elysium after death. These include the snake that killed

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

' dog Argos, Wisvamitra (the holy cow of India), the donkey of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and the horses of various historical commanders in field. The assembly select, after discussion, Buddha's horse

Kantaka According to Buddhist legend, Kanthaka (in Pali and Sanskrit) (6th century BC, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India) was an eighteen cubit long, favourite white horse and royal servant of Prince Siddhartha, who later became Gautama Buddha. Siddh ...

as the holiest of animals, but it has left without a trace to follow its master to nirvana.

Aftermath

In Denmark, Gjellerup's Nobel prize was received with little enthusiasm. He had long been regarded as a German writer. During various stages of his career, he had made himself unpopular with both the naturalist left surrounding

and the conservative right. Gjellerup's nomination for the Nobel prize did nevertheless receive Danish support. Because

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

was neutral during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the divided prize did not arouse political speculations about partial decision, but showed on the other hand allegiance between the Nordic neighbors. Today Gjellerup is almost forgotten in Denmark. In spite of this, however, literary historians normally regard him as an honest seeker after truth. Gjellerup's works have been translated into several languages, including German (often translated by himself), Swedish, English, Dutch, Polish, Thai and others. ''The Pilgrim Kamanita'' is his most widely translated book, having been published in several European countries and the United States. In Thailand, a Buddhist country, the first half of the Thai translation of ''Kamanita'' has been used in

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

textbooks.

Biographies

*Georg Nørregård: , 1988 (in Danish) *Olaf C. Nybo: , 2002 (in German) * Article in

Vilhelm Andersen Vilhelm Rasmus Andreas Andersen (16 October 1864 – 3 April 1953) was a Danish author, literary historian and intellectual, who primarily focused on the study of Danish literature. He was one of the first to use the term "Danish Golden Age, Gold ...

: , 1924–34 (in Danish) *Article in Hakon Stangerup: , 1964–66 (in Danish)

External links

* * * * *
Knud B. Gjesing: ''Karl Gjellerup'', portrait of the author
Archive for Danish Literature,

Danish Royal Library The Royal Library () in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the ...

(in Danish) (pdf)
List of Works
*

Illustrations from manuscripts and early print books by Karl Adolph Gjellerup. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gjellerup, Karl Adolp 1857 births 1919 deaths People from Faxe Municipality 20th-century Danish novelists 20th-century Danish poets Danish male poets Danish atheists Danish Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Literature Danish male novelists