Portal:Denmark/Selected biography/Archive

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Denmark Portal selected biography archive 2011/2012

This is the selected biography archive, for the Denmark portal.


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Jacob Riis in 1906.

Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 - May 26, 1914), a Danish-American muckraker journalist, photographer, and social reformer, was born in Ribe, Denmark. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the less fortunate in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photographic essays. As one of the first photographers to use flash, he is considered a pioneer in photography.

Riis held various jobs before he landed a position as a police reporter in

New York Tribune
. During these stints as a police reporter, Riis worked the most crime-ridden and impoverished slums of the city. Through his own experiences in the poor houses, and witnessing the conditions of the poor in the city slums, he decided to make a difference for those who had no voice.

He was one of the first Americans to use

magnum opus How the Other Half Lives. This work was directly responsible for convincing then-Commissioner of Police Theodore Roosevelt to close the police-run poor houses in which Riis suffered during his first months as an American. After reading it, Roosevelt was so deeply moved by Riis's sense of justice that he met Riis and befriended him for life, calling him "the best American I ever knew." Roosevelt himself coined the term "muckraking journalism", of which Riis is a recognized protagonist, in 1906
.

Recently selected: Bertel Thorvaldsen - Rasmus Rask - Ludvig Holberg


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Coin from the British Museum

Canute the Great (d. November 12, 1035) was a

Norman F. Cantor
has made the paradoxical statement that he was "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history".

Cnut was of Danish and Slavic descent. His father was

patronym Sweynsson, Old Norse Sveinsson). Cnut's mother was the daughter of the first duke of the Polans, Mieszko I; her name may have been Świętosława, but the Oxford DNB
article on Cnut states that her name is unknown.

As a prince of Denmark, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut held this power-base together by uniting Danes and Englishmen under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut. He had coins struck which called him king there, but there is no narrative record of his occupation.

Recently selected: Jacob Riis - Bertel Thorvaldsen - Rasmus Rask

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Hans Christian Ørsted.

Hans Christian Ørsted (14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist, influenced by the thinking of Immanuel Kant. He is best known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism known as electromagnetism.

From 1806, Ørsted was a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He was instrumental in the founding of the university's Faculty of Science shortly before his death. In the 1960s, the main building complex of the university's new science campus was named in his honor.

Ørsted was the driving force behind the founding of the Technical University of Denmark in 1829 and served as its first director. The present-day department of applied electronics is named Ørsted·DTU in his honor.

Recently selected:

Canute the Great – Jacob Riis


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Hans Christian Ørsted.

Hans Christian Ørsted (14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist, influenced by the thinking of Immanuel Kant. He is best known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism known as electromagnetism.

From 1806, Ørsted was a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He was instrumental in the founding of the university's Faculty of Science shortly before his death. In the 1960s, the main building complex of the university's new science campus was named in his honor.

Ørsted was the driving force behind the founding of the Technical University of Denmark in 1829 and served as its first director. The present-day department of applied electronics is named Ørsted·DTU in his honor.

Recently selected:

Canute the Great – Jacob Riis


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Tycho Brahe.

Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe (14 December 1546 – 24 October 1601), was a

Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonic system. From 1600 until his death in 1601, he was assisted by Johannes Kepler
, who would later use Brahe's astronomical information to develop his own theories of astronomy.

He is credited with the most accurate astronomical observations of his time, and the data was used by his assistant Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion. No one before Brahe had attempted to make so many redundant observations, and the mathematical tools to take advantage of them had not yet been developed. He did what others before him were unable or unwilling to do — to catalogue the planets and stars with enough accuracy so as to determine whether the Ptolemaic or Copernican system was more valid in describing the heavens.

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Canute the Great


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Bjørn Lomborg.

Bjørn Lomborg (born 6 January 1965) is a Danish political scientist and former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in Copenhagen. He is most known for his best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist, its controversial claims, and the allegations of scientific dishonesty that followed it. He is now an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School.

Lomborg is also a

vegetarian (although he is not a supporter of animal rights), and known to wear jeans
to formal business meetings.

According to an interview published in 2005 by

.

Lomborg spent one year as an

Ph.D. at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen
, 1994.

Recently selected: Tycho BraheHans Christian ØrstedN. F. S. Grundtvig


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Karen Blixen (right).

Karen von Blixen-Finecke (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962), née Dinesen, was a Danish author also known under her pen name Isak Dinesen. Blixen wrote works both in Danish and in English. She is best known, at least in English, for her account of living in Kenya, Out of Africa, and a film based on one of her stories, Babette's Feast.

Daughter of Ingeborg Westenholz Dinesen, and the writer and army officer Wilhelm Dinesen, and sister of

Chippewa Indians, in Wisconsin
, where he fathered a daughter, who was born after his return to Denmark.


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Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe - Hans Christian Ørsted



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Ole Rømer.

Ole Rømer (September 25, 1644 – September 19, 1710) was a Danish astronomer who made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (1676).

Rømer was employed by the French government: King

Versailles
.

In

Round Tower and in his home, using improved instruments of his own construction. Unfortunately, his observations have not survived: they were lost in the great fire of Copenhagen in 1728. However, a former assistant (and later an astronomer in his own right), Peder Horrebow
, loyally described and wrote about Rømer's observations.


Recently selected:
Karen Blixen - Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe



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Ole Rømer.

Ole Rømer (September 25, 1644 – September 19, 1710) was a Danish astronomer who made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (1676).

Rømer was employed by the French government: King

Versailles
.

In

Round Tower and in his home, using improved instruments of his own construction. Unfortunately, his observations have not survived: they were lost in the great fire of Copenhagen in 1728. However, a former assistant (and later an astronomer in his own right), Peder Horrebow
, loyally described and wrote about Rømer's observations.


Recently selected:
Karen Blixen - Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe



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King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. Painting by Pieter Isaacsz (1611-1616).

Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (April 12, 1577–February 28, 1648) was the longest reigning Danish monarch with a reign of 60 years. His reign was characterized by wars and rivalry with

Rundetårn and Holy Trinity Church in Kristianstad. He features in the Danish national play, Elverhøj (The Elf's Hill) and is the central figure in the Danish royal anthem Kong Christian stod ved højen mast
.

Christian was the son of

Frederiksborg Palace
in 1577, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his father (April 4, 1588), attaining his majority on August 17, 1596. ...

Recently selected: Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen - Bjørn Lomborg



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King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. Painting by Pieter Isaacsz (1611-1616).

Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (April 12, 1577–February 28, 1648) was the longest reigning Danish monarch with a reign of 60 years. His reign was characterized by wars and rivalry with

Rundetårn and Holy Trinity Church in Kristianstad. He features in the Danish national play, Elverhøj (The Elf's Hill) and is the central figure in the Danish royal anthem Kong Christian stod ved højen mast
.

Christian was the son of

Frederiksborg Palace
in 1577, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his father (April 4, 1588), attaining his majority on August 17, 1596. ...

Recently selected: Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen - Bjørn Lomborg



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Carl Nielsen.

Carl August Nielsen (June 9, 1865, Sortelung – October 3, 1931, Copenhagen) was a conductor, violinist, and the most internationally known composer from Denmark. He is especially admired for his six symphonies and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet.

Nielsen was born one of twelve children in a poor peasant family in Sortelung, not far from the city of Odense. His father was a housepainter and amateur musician. Carl first discovered music by experimenting with the different sounds and pitches he heard when striking the logs in a pile of firewood behind his home. His family was relatively poor, but he was still able to learn the violin and piano as a child.

He also learned how to play

bugler in the 16th Battalion at nearby Odense. He later studied violin and music theory at the Copenhagen Conservatory, but never took formal lessons in composition. Nonetheless, he began to compose. At first, he did not gain enough recognition for his works to support him. During the concert which saw the premiere of his first symphony on March 14, 1894 (conducted by Johan Svendsen), Nielsen played in the second violin section. However, the same symphony was a great success when played in Berlin
in 1896, and from then his fame grew.

Recently selected: Christian IV of Denmark - Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen



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Carl Nielsen.

Carl August Nielsen (June 9, 1865, Sortelung – October 3, 1931, Copenhagen) was a conductor, violinist, and the most internationally known composer from Denmark. He is especially admired for his six symphonies and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet.

Nielsen was born one of twelve children in a poor peasant family in Sortelung, not far from the city of Odense. His father was a housepainter and amateur musician. Carl first discovered music by experimenting with the different sounds and pitches he heard when striking the logs in a pile of firewood behind his home. His family was relatively poor, but he was still able to learn the violin and piano as a child.

He also learned how to play

bugler in the 16th Battalion at nearby Odense. He later studied violin and music theory at the Copenhagen Conservatory, but never took formal lessons in composition. Nonetheless, he began to compose. At first, he did not gain enough recognition for his works to support him. During the concert which saw the premiere of his first symphony on March 14, 1894 (conducted by Johan Svendsen), Nielsen played in the second violin section. However, the same symphony was a great success when played in Berlin
in 1896, and from then his fame grew.

Recently selected: Christian IV of Denmark - Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen



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Johan Ludvig Heiberg.

Johan Ludvig Heiberg (December 14, 1791 - August 25, 1860), Danish poet and critic, son of the political writer Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758-1841), and of the novelist, afterwards the Baroness Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, was born at Copenhagen.

In 1800 his father was exiled and settled in

Oehlenschläger and Ingemann
possessed the popular ear, and were understood at once to be the opening of a great career.

Recently selected: Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark - Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen



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Johan Ludvig Heiberg.

Johan Ludvig Heiberg (December 14, 1791 - August 25, 1860), Danish poet and critic, son of the political writer Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758-1841), and of the novelist, afterwards the Baroness Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, was born at Copenhagen.

In 1800 his father was exiled and settled in

Oehlenschläger and Ingemann
possessed the popular ear, and were understood at once to be the opening of a great career.

Recently selected: Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark - Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen



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Johan Ludvig Heiberg.

Johan Ludvig Heiberg (December 14, 1791 - August 25, 1860), Danish poet and critic, son of the political writer Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758-1841), and of the novelist, afterwards the Baroness Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, was born at Copenhagen.

In 1800 his father was exiled and settled in

Oehlenschläger and Ingemann
possessed the popular ear, and were understood at once to be the opening of a great career.

Recently selected: Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark - Ole Rømer - Karen Blixen



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Knud Rasmussen.

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879–December 21, 1933) was a

polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled
.

Rasmussen was born in

Jakobshavn, Greenland, the son of a Danish missionary and Inuit mother. He spent his early years in Greenland among the Inuit where he learned from an early age to speak the language, hunt, drive dog sleds and live in harsh Arctic conditions. "My playmates were native Greenlanders; from the earliest boyhood I played and worked with the hunters, so even the hardships of the most strenuous sledge-trips became pleasant routine for me." He was later educated in Lynge, North Zealand
, Denmark. Between 1898 and 1900 he pursued an unsuccessful career as an actor and opera singer.

He went on his first expedition in 19021904, known as "The Literature Expedition", with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture. After returning home he went on a lecture circuit and wrote The People of the Polar North (1908), a combination travel journal and scholarly account of Inuit folk-lore. In 1908 he married Dagmar Andersen.

Recently selected: Johan Ludvig Heiberg - Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark



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Knud Rasmussen.

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879–December 21, 1933) was a

polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled
.

Rasmussen was born in

Jakobshavn, Greenland, the son of a Danish missionary and Inuit mother. He spent his early years in Greenland among the Inuit where he learned from an early age to speak the language, hunt, drive dog sleds and live in harsh Arctic conditions. "My playmates were native Greenlanders; from the earliest boyhood I played and worked with the hunters, so even the hardships of the most strenuous sledge-trips became pleasant routine for me." He was later educated in Lynge, North Zealand
, Denmark. Between 1898 and 1900 he pursued an unsuccessful career as an actor and opera singer.

He went on his first expedition in 19021904, known as "The Literature Expedition", with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture. After returning home he went on a lecture circuit and wrote The People of the Polar North (1908), a combination travel journal and scholarly account of Inuit folk-lore. In 1908 he married Dagmar Andersen.

Recently selected: Johan Ludvig Heiberg - Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark



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Knud Rasmussen.

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879–December 21, 1933) was a

polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled
.

Rasmussen was born in

Jakobshavn, Greenland, the son of a Danish missionary and Inuit mother. He spent his early years in Greenland among the Inuit where he learned from an early age to speak the language, hunt, drive dog sleds and live in harsh Arctic conditions. "My playmates were native Greenlanders; from the earliest boyhood I played and worked with the hunters, so even the hardships of the most strenuous sledge-trips became pleasant routine for me." He was later educated in Lynge, North Zealand
, Denmark. Between 1898 and 1900 he pursued an unsuccessful career as an actor and opera singer.

He went on his first expedition in 19021904, known as "The Literature Expedition", with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture. After returning home he went on a lecture circuit and wrote The People of the Polar North (1908), a combination travel journal and scholarly account of Inuit folk-lore. In 1908 he married Dagmar Andersen.

Recently selected: Johan Ludvig Heiberg - Carl Nielsen - Christian IV of Denmark



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Nicolas Steno.

Nicolas Steno (Danish: Niels Stensen) (January 10, 1638 - November 25, 1686) was a pioneer both in anatomy and geology.

After having completed his university education in Copenhagen, the city of his birth, he set out travelling in Europe; in fact, he would be on the move for the rest of his life. In the Netherlands, France, and Italy he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists, and thanks to his eminent power of observation he very soon made important discoveries. At a time when scientific studies consisted in the study of ancient authorities, Steno was bold enough to trust his own eyes, even when his observations differed from traditional doctrines.

Steno first studied anatomy, beginning with a focus on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction. He used geometry to show that a contracting muscle changes its shape but not its volume.

However, in October 1666, two fishermen caught a huge shark near the town of Livorno, and Duke Ferdinand ordered its head to be sent to Steno. Steno dissected it and published his findings in 1667. Examination of the teeth of the shark showed a striking resemblance to certain stony objects, called glossopetrae or "tongue stones," that were found in certain rocks. Ancient authorities, such as the Roman author Pliny the Elder, had suggested that these stones fell from the sky or from the moon. Others were of the opinion, also going back to ancient times, that fossils naturally grew in the rocks. Steno's contemporary Athanasius Kircher, for example, attributed fossils to a "lapidifying virtue diffused through the whole body of the geocosm."


Recently selected: Knud Rasmussen - Johan Ludvig Heiberg - Carl Nielsen



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Nicolas Steno.

Nicolas Steno (Danish: Niels Stensen) (January 10, 1638 - November 25, 1686) was a pioneer both in anatomy and geology.

After having completed his university education in Copenhagen, the city of his birth, he set out travelling in Europe; in fact, he would be on the move for the rest of his life. In the Netherlands, France, and Italy he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists, and thanks to his eminent power of observation he very soon made important discoveries. At a time when scientific studies consisted in the study of ancient authorities, Steno was bold enough to trust his own eyes, even when his observations differed from traditional doctrines.

Steno first studied anatomy, beginning with a focus on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction. He used geometry to show that a contracting muscle changes its shape but not its volume.

However, in October 1666, two fishermen caught a huge shark near the town of Livorno, and Duke Ferdinand ordered its head to be sent to Steno. Steno dissected it and published his findings in 1667. Examination of the teeth of the shark showed a striking resemblance to certain stony objects, called glossopetrae or "tongue stones," that were found in certain rocks. Ancient authorities, such as the Roman author Pliny the Elder, had suggested that these stones fell from the sky or from the moon. Others were of the opinion, also going back to ancient times, that fossils naturally grew in the rocks. Steno's contemporary Athanasius Kircher, for example, attributed fossils to a "lapidifying virtue diffused through the whole body of the geocosm."


Recently selected: Knud Rasmussen - Johan Ludvig Heiberg - Carl Nielsen



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Thorvald Stauning.

Thorvald August Marinus Stauning (26 October 1873 – 3 May 1942) was the first

.

Stauning was trained as a

.

In

minority cabinet which would survive until 1926. His cabinet was considered ground breaking not only as it was the first purely Social Democratic cabinet, but also because a woman, Nina Bang, was appointed Minister of Education
, which attracted some international attention.

From

coalition cabinet with the Danish Social Liberal Party that would steer Denmark out of the Great Depression, shaping a major political compromise that greatly improved the Danish economy
, and also transformed the Social Democratic Party from a class party to a popular party.


Recently selected:
Nicolas Steno - Knud Rasmussen - Johan Ludvig Heiberg



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Thorvald Stauning.

Thorvald August Marinus Stauning (26 October 1873 – 3 May 1942) was the first

.

Stauning was trained as a

.

In

minority cabinet which would survive until 1926. His cabinet was considered ground breaking not only as it was the first purely Social Democratic cabinet, but also because a woman, Nina Bang, was appointed Minister of Education
, which attracted some international attention.

From

coalition cabinet with the Danish Social Liberal Party that would steer Denmark out of the Great Depression, shaping a major political compromise that greatly improved the Danish economy
, and also transformed the Social Democratic Party from a class party to a popular party.


Recently selected:
Nicolas Steno - Knud Rasmussen - Johan Ludvig Heiberg



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Nazi Occupation in April 1940
under the signature Kumbel Kumbell.

Piet Hein popularized the use of the superellipse in architecture, urban planning, and furniture making, and he invented the super-egg or superellipsoid based on the superellipse.

Recently selected: Thorvald Stauning - Nicolas Steno - Knud Rasmussen


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Nazi Occupation in April 1940
under the signature Kumbel Kumbell.

Piet Hein popularized the use of the superellipse in architecture, urban planning, and furniture making, and he invented the super-egg or superellipsoid based on the superellipse.


Recently selected: Thorvald Stauning - Nicolas Steno - Knud Rasmussen


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Rasmus Rask.

Rasmus Rask (Danish pronunciation:

philologist, was born at Brændekilde on the island of Funen
.

Rask studied at the University of Copenhagen, and at once showed remarkable talent for the acquisition of languages. In 1808 he was appointed assistant keeper of the university library, and some years afterwards professor of literary history. In 1811 he published, in Danish, his Introduction to the Grammar of the Icelandic and other Ancient Northern Languages, from printed and manuscript materials accumulated by his predecessors in the same field of research.

The reputation which Rask thus acquired recommended him to the Arna-Magnaean Institution, by which he was employed as editor of the Icelandic Lexicon (1814) of Björn Halldórsson, which had long remained in manuscript. Rask visited Iceland, where he remained from 1813 to 1815, mastering the language and familiarizing himself with the literature, manners and customs of the natives. To the interest with which they inspired him may probably be attributed the establishment at Copenhagen, early in 1816, of the Icelandic Literary Society of which he was the first president.

In October 1816 Rask left Denmark on a literary expedition at the cost of the king, to prosecute inquiries into the languages of the East, and collect manuscripts for the university library at Copenhagen. He proceeded first to Sweden, where he remained two years, in the course of which he made an excursion into Finland to study the language. Here he published, in Swedish, his Anglo-Saxon Grammar in 1817. In 1818 there appeared at Copenhagen, in Danish, an Essay on the Origin of the Ancient Scandinavian or Icelandic Tongue, in which he raced the affinity of that idiom to the other European languages, particularly Latin and Greek.


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Rasmus Rask.

Rasmus Rask (Danish pronunciation:

philologist, was born at Brændekilde on the island of Funen
.

Rask studied at the University of Copenhagen, and at once showed remarkable talent for the acquisition of languages. In 1808 he was appointed assistant keeper of the university library, and some years afterwards professor of literary history. In 1811 he published, in Danish, his Introduction to the Grammar of the Icelandic and other Ancient Northern Languages, from printed and manuscript materials accumulated by his predecessors in the same field of research.

The reputation which Rask thus acquired recommended him to the Arna-Magnaean Institution, by which he was employed as editor of the Icelandic Lexicon (1814) of Björn Halldórsson, which had long remained in manuscript. Rask visited Iceland, where he remained from 1813 to 1815, mastering the language and familiarizing himself with the literature, manners and customs of the natives. To the interest with which they inspired him may probably be attributed the establishment at Copenhagen, early in 1816, of the Icelandic Literary Society of which he was the first president.

In October 1816 Rask left Denmark on a literary expedition at the cost of the king, to prosecute inquiries into the languages of the East, and collect manuscripts for the university library at Copenhagen. He proceeded first to Sweden, where he remained two years, in the course of which he made an excursion into Finland to study the language. Here he published, in Swedish, his Anglo-Saxon Grammar in 1817. In 1818 there appeared at Copenhagen, in Danish, an Essay on the Origin of the Ancient Scandinavian or Icelandic Tongue, in which he raced the affinity of that idiom to the other European languages, particularly Latin and Greek.


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Bertel Thorvaldsen. Painted by Karl Begas, c. 1820.

(Karl Albert) Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy (from 1789–1838). Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was eleven years old. Working part-time with his father, who was a wood carver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals at the academy. He was awarded a stipend to travel to Rome and continue his education.

In Rome Thorvaldsen quickly made a name for himself as a sculptor. Maintaining a large workshop in the city, he worked in a heroic

neo-classicist
style. His patrons resided all over Europe.

Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was received as a national hero. The

Pius VII, the only work by a non-Italian in St. Peter's Basilica
.

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Bertel Thorvaldsen. Painted by Karl Begas, c. 1820.

(Karl Albert) Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy (from 1789–1838). Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was eleven years old. Working part-time with his father, who was a wood carver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals at the academy. He was awarded a stipend to travel to Rome and continue his education.

In Rome Thorvaldsen quickly made a name for himself as a sculptor. Maintaining a large workshop in the city, he worked in a heroic

neo-classicist
style. His patrons resided all over Europe.

Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was received as a national hero. The

Pius VII, the only work by a non-Italian in St. Peter's Basilica
.

Recently selected:


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Karen Blixen (right).

Karen von Blixen-Finecke (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962), née Dinesen, was a Danish author also known under her pen name Isak Dinesen. Blixen wrote works both in Danish and in English. She is best known, at least in English, for her account of living in Kenya, Out of Africa, and a film based on one of her stories, Babette's Feast.

Daughter of Ingeborg Westenholz Dinesen, and the writer and army officer Wilhelm Dinesen, and sister of

Chippewa Indians, in Wisconsin
, where he fathered a daughter, who was born after his return to Denmark.


Recently selected:

Piet Hein


32: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Karen Blixen (right).

Karen von Blixen-Finecke (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962), née Dinesen, was a Danish author also known under her pen name Isak Dinesen. Blixen wrote works both in Danish and in English. She is best known, at least in English, for her account of living in Kenya, Out of Africa, and a film based on one of her stories, Babette's Feast.

Daughter of Ingeborg Westenholz Dinesen, and the writer and army officer Wilhelm Dinesen, and sister of

Chippewa Indians, in Wisconsin
, where he fathered a daughter, who was born after his return to Denmark.


Recently selected:

Piet Hein


33: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Ludvig Holberg.

Ludvig Holberg (December 3, 1684 – January 27, 1754) was a

Bergen, Norway, and is considered the founder of modern Danish literature. He died in Copenhagen
. Holberg's works about natural and common law were widely read by many Danish law students over two hundred years.

Holberg was the youngest of six brothers. His father, Christian Nielsen Holberg, died before Ludvig was one year old. He was educated in Copenhagen, and was a teacher at the University of Copenhagen for many years. At the same time, he started his successful career as an author, writing the first of a series of comedies.

Holberg began to study theology at the University of Copenhagen and later taught himself law, history and language. He was not particularly interested in theology as a career, settling for an attestats (similar to a

magister or doctorate
in the subject, nor did he follow a career as a theology professor, priest, or bishop.

Holberg was eventually appointed assistant professor after having first worked as one without pay, having to accept the first available position, which was teaching metaphysics. Later, he became a professor and taught rhetoric. Finally, he was given a professorship in the subject which he prized most and was most productive in, history.


Recently selected: Karen Blixen - Bertel Thorvaldsen - Rasmus Rask


34: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Ludvig Holberg.

Ludvig Holberg (December 3, 1684 – January 27, 1754) was a

Bergen, Norway, and is considered the founder of modern Danish literature. He died in Copenhagen
. Holberg's works about natural and common law were widely read by many Danish law students over two hundred years.

Holberg was the youngest of six brothers. His father, Christian Nielsen Holberg, died before Ludvig was one year old. He was educated in Copenhagen, and was a teacher at the University of Copenhagen for many years. At the same time, he started his successful career as an author, writing the first of a series of comedies.

Holberg began to study theology at the University of Copenhagen and later taught himself law, history and language. He was not particularly interested in theology as a career, settling for an attestats (similar to a

magister or doctorate
in the subject, nor did he follow a career as a theology professor, priest, or bishop.

Holberg was eventually appointed assistant professor after having first worked as one without pay, having to accept the first available position, which was teaching metaphysics. Later, he became a professor and taught rhetoric. Finally, he was given a professorship in the subject which he prized most and was most productive in, history.


Recently selected: Karen Blixen - Bertel Thorvaldsen - Rasmus Rask


35: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Tycho Brahe.

Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe (December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601), was a

Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonic system. From 1600 until his death in 1601, he was assisted by Johannes Kepler
, who would later use Tycho's astronomical information to develop his own theories of astronomy.

He is credited with the most accurate astronomical observations of his time, and the data was used by his assistant Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion. No one before Tycho had attempted to make so many redundant observations, and the mathematical tools to take advantage of them had not yet been developed. He did what others before him were unable or unwilling to do — to catalogue the planets and stars with enough accuracy so as to determine whether the Ptolemaic or Copernican system was more valid in describing the heavens.

Recently selected: Ludvig Holberg - Karen Blixen - Bertel Thorvaldsen


36: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Tycho Brahe.

Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe (December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601), was a

Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonic system. From 1600 until his death in 1601, he was assisted by Johannes Kepler
, who would later use Tycho's astronomical information to develop his own theories of astronomy.

He is credited with the most accurate astronomical observations of his time, and the data was used by his assistant Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion. No one before Tycho had attempted to make so many redundant observations, and the mathematical tools to take advantage of them had not yet been developed. He did what others before him were unable or unwilling to do — to catalogue the planets and stars with enough accuracy so as to determine whether the Ptolemaic or Copernican system was more valid in describing the heavens.

Recently selected: Ludvig Holberg - Karen Blixen - Bertel Thorvaldsen


37: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Bjørn Lomborg.

Bjørn Lomborg (born January 6, 1965) is a Danish political scientist and former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in Copenhagen. He is most known for his best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist, its controversial claims, and the allegations of scientific dishonesty that followed it. He is now an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School.

Lomborg is also a

vegetarian (although he is not a supporter of animal rights), and known to wear jeans
to formal business meetings.

According to an interview published in 2005 by the San Francisco Examiner, the book he would most liked to have written is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Society, by Jared Diamond.

Bjørn Lomborg spent one year as an

Ph.D. at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, 1994
.

Recently selected: Tycho Brahe - Ludvig Holberg - Karen Blixen


38: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Bjørn Lomborg.

Bjørn Lomborg (born January 6, 1965) is a Danish political scientist and former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in Copenhagen. He is most known for his best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist, its controversial claims, and the allegations of scientific dishonesty that followed it. He is now an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School.

Lomborg is also a

vegetarian (although he is not a supporter of animal rights), and known to wear jeans
to formal business meetings.

According to an interview published in 2005 by the San Francisco Examiner, the book he would most liked to have written is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Society, by Jared Diamond.

Bjørn Lomborg spent one year as an

Ph.D. at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, 1994
.

Recently selected: Tycho Brahe - Ludvig Holberg - Karen Blixen


39: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Hans Christian Ørsted.

Hans Christian Ørsted (August 14, 1777 – March 9, 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist, influenced by the thinking of Immanuel Kant. He is best known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism known as electromagnetism.

From 1806, Ørsted was a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He was instrumental in the founding of the university's Faculty of Science shortly before his death. In the 1960's the main building complex of the university's new science campus was named in his honor.

Ørsted was the driving force behind the founding of the Technical University of Denmark in 1829 and served as its first director. The present-day department of applied electronics is named Ørsted·DTU in his honor.

Recently selected: Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe - Ludvig Holberg


40: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Hans Christian Ørsted.

Hans Christian Ørsted (August 14, 1777 – March 9, 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist, influenced by the thinking of Immanuel Kant. He is best known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism known as electromagnetism.

From 1806, Ørsted was a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He was instrumental in the founding of the university's Faculty of Science shortly before his death. In the 1960's the main building complex of the university's new science campus was named in his honor.

Ørsted was the driving force behind the founding of the Technical University of Denmark in 1829 and served as its first director. The present-day department of applied electronics is named Ørsted·DTU in his honor.

Recently selected: Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe - Ludvig Holberg


41: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Ole Rømer.

Ole Rømer (September 25, 1644 – September 19, 1710) was a Danish astronomer who made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (1676).

Rømer was employed by the French government: King

Versailles
.

In

Rundetårn and in his home, using improved instruments of his own construction. Unfortunately, his observations have not survived: they were lost in the great fire of Copenhagen in 1728. However, a former assistant (and later an astronomer in his own right), Peder Horrebow
, loyally described and wrote about Rømer's observations.


Recently selected:
Hans Christian Ørsted - Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe



42: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Ole Rømer.

Ole Rømer (September 25, 1644 – September 19, 1710) was a Danish astronomer who made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (1676).

Rømer was employed by the French government: King

Versailles
.

In

Rundetårn and in his home, using improved instruments of his own construction. Unfortunately, his observations have not survived: they were lost in the great fire of Copenhagen in 1728. However, a former assistant (and later an astronomer in his own right), Peder Horrebow
, loyally described and wrote about Rømer's observations.


Recently selected:
Hans Christian Ørsted - Bjørn Lomborg - Tycho Brahe



43: View  • edit  • discuss  • history


44: View  • edit  • discuss  • history


45: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Jacob Riis in 1906.

Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914), a Danish-American muckraker journalist, photographer, and social reformer, was born in Ribe, Denmark. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the less fortunate in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photographic essays. As one of the first photographers to use flash, he is considered a pioneer in photography.

Riis held various jobs before he landed a position as a police reporter in 1873 with the

New York Tribune
. During these stints as a police reporter, Riis worked the most crime-ridden and impoverished slums of the city. Through his own experiences in the poor houses, and witnessing the conditions of the poor in the city slums, he decided to make a difference for those who had no voice.

He was one of the first Americans to use flash powder, allowing his documentation of New York City slums to penetrate the dark of night, and helping him capture the hardships faced by the poor and criminal along his police beats, especially on the notorious Mulberry Street. In 1889, Scribner's Magazine published Riis's photographic essay on city life, which Riis later expanded to create his magnum opus How the Other Half Lives. This work was directly responsible for convincing then-Commissioner of Police Theodore Roosevelt to close the police-run poor houses in which Riis suffered during his first months as an American. After reading it, Roosevelt was so deeply moved by Riis's sense of justice that he met Riis and befriended him for life, calling him "the best American I ever knew." Roosevelt himself coined the term "muckraking journalism", of which Riis is a recognized protagonist, in 1906.

Recently selected: N. F. S. GrundtvigOle RømerHans Christian Ørsted


46: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Jacob Riis in 1906.

Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914), a Danish-American muckraker journalist, photographer, and social reformer, was born in Ribe, Denmark. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the less fortunate in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photographic essays. As one of the first photographers to use flash, he is considered a pioneer in photography.

Riis held various jobs before he landed a position as a police reporter in 1873 with the

New York Tribune
. During these stints as a police reporter, Riis worked the most crime-ridden and impoverished slums of the city. Through his own experiences in the poor houses, and witnessing the conditions of the poor in the city slums, he decided to make a difference for those who had no voice.

He was one of the first Americans to use flash powder, allowing his documentation of New York City slums to penetrate the dark of night, and helping him capture the hardships faced by the poor and criminal along his police beats, especially on the notorious Mulberry Street. In 1889, Scribner's Magazine published Riis's photographic essay on city life, which Riis later expanded to create his magnum opus How the Other Half Lives. This work was directly responsible for convincing then-Commissioner of Police Theodore Roosevelt to close the police-run poor houses in which Riis suffered during his first months as an American. After reading it, Roosevelt was so deeply moved by Riis's sense of justice that he met Riis and befriended him for life, calling him "the best American I ever knew." Roosevelt himself coined the term "muckraking journalism", of which Riis is a recognized protagonist, in 1906.

Recently selected: N. F. S. GrundtvigOle RømerHans Christian Ørsted


47: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Jacob Riis in 1906.

Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914), a Danish-American muckraker journalist, photographer, and social reformer, was born in Ribe, Denmark. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the less fortunate in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photographic essays. As one of the first photographers to use flash, he is considered a pioneer in photography.

Riis held various jobs before he landed a position as a police reporter in 1873 with the

New York Tribune
. During these stints as a police reporter, Riis worked the most crime-ridden and impoverished slums of the city. Through his own experiences in the poor houses, and witnessing the conditions of the poor in the city slums, he decided to make a difference for those who had no voice.

He was one of the first Americans to use flash powder, allowing his documentation of New York City slums to penetrate the dark of night, and helping him capture the hardships faced by the poor and criminal along his police beats, especially on the notorious Mulberry Street. In 1889, Scribner's Magazine published Riis's photographic essay on city life, which Riis later expanded to create his magnum opus How the Other Half Lives. This work was directly responsible for convincing then-Commissioner of Police Theodore Roosevelt to close the police-run poor houses in which Riis suffered during his first months as an American. After reading it, Roosevelt was so deeply moved by Riis's sense of justice that he met Riis and befriended him for life, calling him "the best American I ever knew." Roosevelt himself coined the term "muckraking journalism", of which Riis is a recognized protagonist, in 1906.

Recently selected: N. F. S. GrundtvigOle RømerHans Christian Ørsted


48: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Peter Schmeichel

Peter Schmeichel

1992 European Championship
(Euro 92) tournament.

Schmeichel is famous for his intimidating physique (he wears an XXXL shirt and stands 6'4" tall) and his attacking threat. Throughout his career, Schmeichel scored 11 goals, a great feat for a keeper. He is the most

European Championship
tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches.

Recently selected: Jacob RiisN. F. S. GrundtvigOle Rømer


49: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Nicolas Steno.

Nicolas Steno (Danish: Niels Stensen) (10 January 1638 – 25 November 1686) was a pioneer both in anatomy and geology.

After having completed his university education in Copenhagen, the city of his birth, he set out travelling in Europe; in fact, he would be on the move for the rest of his life. In the Netherlands, France and Italy he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists, and thanks to his eminent power of observation, he very soon made important discoveries. At a time when scientific studies consisted in the study of ancient authorities, Steno was bold enough to trust his own eyes, even when his observations differed from traditional doctrines.

Steno first studied anatomy, beginning with a focus on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction. He used geometry to show that a contracting muscle changes its shape but not its volume.

However, in October 1666, two fishermen caught a huge shark near the town of Livorno, and Duke Ferdinand ordered its head to be sent to Steno. Steno dissected it and published his findings in 1667. Examination of the teeth of the shark showed a striking resemblance to certain stony objects, called glossopetrae or "tongue stones," that were found in certain rocks. Ancient authorities, such as the Roman author Pliny the Elder, had suggested that these stones fell from the sky or from the moon. Others were of the opinion, also going back to ancient times, that fossils naturally grew in the rocks. Steno's contemporary Athanasius Kircher, for example, attributed fossils to a "lapidifying virtue diffused through the whole body of the geocosm."


Recently selected: Peter SchmeichelJacob RiisN. F. S. Grundtvig



50: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

Nicolas Steno.

Nicolas Steno (Danish: Niels Stensen) (10 January 1638 – 25 November 1686) was a pioneer both in anatomy and geology.

After having completed his university education in Copenhagen, the city of his birth, he set out travelling in Europe; in fact, he would be on the move for the rest of his life. In the Netherlands, France and Italy he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists, and thanks to his eminent power of observation, he very soon made important discoveries. At a time when scientific studies consisted in the study of ancient authorities, Steno was bold enough to trust his own eyes, even when his observations differed from traditional doctrines.

Steno first studied anatomy, beginning with a focus on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction. He used geometry to show that a contracting muscle changes its shape but not its volume.

However, in October 1666, two fishermen caught a huge shark near the town of Livorno, and Duke Ferdinand ordered its head to be sent to Steno. Steno dissected it and published his findings in 1667. Examination of the teeth of the shark showed a striking resemblance to certain stony objects, called glossopetrae or "tongue stones," that were found in certain rocks. Ancient authorities, such as the Roman author Pliny the Elder, had suggested that these stones fell from the sky or from the moon. Others were of the opinion, also going back to ancient times, that fossils naturally grew in the rocks. Steno's contemporary Athanasius Kircher, for example, attributed fossils to a "lapidifying virtue diffused through the whole body of the geocosm."


Recently selected: Peter SchmeichelJacob RiisN. F. S. Grundtvig



51: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. Painting by Pieter Isaacsz (1611-1616).

Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (April 12, 1577–February 28, 1648) was the longest reigning Danish monarch with a reign of 60 years. His reign was characterized by wars and rivalry with

Rundetårn and Holy Trinity Church in Kristianstad. He features in the Danish national play, Elverhøj (The Elf's Hill) and is the central figure in the Danish royal anthem Kong Christian stod ved højen mast
.

Christian was the son of

Frederiksborg Palace
in 1577, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his father (April 4, 1588), attaining his majority on August 17, 1596. ...

Recently selected: Nicolas Steno - Peter Schmeichel - Jacob Riis



52: View  • edit  • discuss  • history

King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. Painting by Pieter Isaacsz (1611-1616).

Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (April 12, 1577–February 28, 1648) was the longest reigning Danish monarch with a reign of 60 years. His reign was characterized by wars and rivalry with

Rundetårn and Holy Trinity Church in Kristianstad. He features in the Danish national play, Elverhøj (The Elf's Hill) and is the central figure in the Danish royal anthem Kong Christian stod ved højen mast
.

Christian was the son of

Frederiksborg Palace
in 1577, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his father (April 4, 1588), attaining his majority on August 17, 1596. ...

Recently selected: Nicolas Steno - Peter Schmeichel - Jacob Riis



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