Sophus Christian Frederik Schandorph (or Skamdrup), known simply as Sophus Schandorph, (8 May 1836 – 1 January 1901), Danish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, was born at Ringsted 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 ...

. He was one of the men of "the

Modern Break-through 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 ...

Biography

Schandorph was born on 8 May 1836 in

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately from Copenhagen. History Ringsted was the site of ''Sjællands Landsting'' (lit. ''Z ...

, the son of Johan Frederik Schandorph (1790–1855) and Andrea Kirstine Møller (1804–73). In 1855 he entered the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

. In 1862 he published his first volume of poetry, written in the romantic style and giving little indication of the ultimate direction that his talent was to take. Other books followed, but his gifts first found full expression in a volume of rustic tales entitled ''Fra Provinsen'' (1876), in which he described provincial character and life with much frankness of detail and a great deal of wit. In 1878 his novel, ''Uden Midtpunkt'' ("Without a Centre"), recast later in dramatic form, attracted great attention by its exposure of contemporary failings. Among the more famous of his later novels are: *''Thomas Friis' Historie'' (2 vols, 1881) *''Det gamle Apothek'' ("The Old Apothecary" (1855) *''Poet og Junker'' (1892) *''Helga'' (1900) But his most characteristic work is to be found in his various volumes of short sketches. He published his own ''Recollections'' (''Oplevelser'') in 1889. He died after a long illness at

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

on New Year's Day 1901. Today Schandorph is little read and not regarded a very outstanding man of the ”break-through” but he is however an important key figure as an inspiration of

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 ...

and later regionalist and social writers.

References

Article by Vilhelm Møller
in C.F. Bricka's ''

Dansk Biografisk Lexikon ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' (usually abbreviated DBL; title of first edition written ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'') is a Danish biographical dictionary that has been published in three editions. The first edition, ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon, til ...

'' (vol. xv., 1901). {{DEFAULTSORT:Schandorph, Sophus 1836 births 1901 deaths Danish male poets Danish male novelists 19th-century Danish poets 19th-century Danish novelists 19th-century Danish male writers People from Ringsted