HENRIK

PONTOPPIDAN (1857— )  , Danish author, son of a pastor, was born at Fredericia on the 24th of July 1857 . He studied physics and mathematics at the university of Copenhagen, and when he was eighteen he travelled on foot through Germany and Switzerland . His novels show an intimate acquaintance with peasant life and character, the earlier ones showing clear evidence of the influence of Kjelland . An excellent example of his work is. in the trilogy dealing with the history of Emanuel Hansted, a theorizing radical parson who marries a peasant wife . These three stories, Muld (" Soil," 1891), Det Forjaettede Land (" The Promised Land," 1892), and Dommens Dag (1895) are marked by fine discrimination and great narrative power . Among his other works are Fret Hytlerne (1887), Folkelivsskildringer (2 parts, 1888—189o), and Skyer (189o) . He began in 1888 a new series in Lykke Per, the story of a typical Jutlander . See an article of Niels Moller in Dansk Biografisk Lexikon (vol, xiii., 1899) .