Ludvig Holberg

Born in Bergen in 1684 during the Dano-Norwegian union, Holberg moved through Humanism, Enlightenment thought, and Baroque style to become something new: the founder of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. In 1722-1723 he wrote a burst of comedies for Copenhagen's Lille Grønnegade Theatre that planted the DNA of Scandinavian drama. But he was also a philosopher, historian, and essayist writing in Latin, read across Europe, and his treatises on natural and common law became standard texts for Danish law students from 1736 straight through to 1936. He died in 1754, a baron, having built two literary traditions at once.