Jens Peter Jacobsen

Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847–1885) – a Danish writer and biologist, one of the most outstanding Scandinavian poets. He showed a love of botany from an early age, before studying at Copenhagen University. As a professional botanist, he studied the flora of Denmark, and he also wrote poetry. Creeping tuberculosis saw him gravitate more towards literature. He wrote both prose and poetry. Under the sway of a meeting with the critic Georg Brandes, in the spring of 1873, Jacobsen began work on the historical novel Marie Grubbe. His output features two novels, seven short stories and a volume of poetry. His verse, full of reflection, melancholy and naturalism, influenced the Danish symbolist poets of the 1890s.