Jens Johannes Jørgensen (6 November 1866, in Svendborg – 29 May 1956) was a Danish writer, best known for his biographies of Catholic saints. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Early days

Johannes Jørgensen was born in 1866 in

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city. but he quit his studies in 1888. In Copenhagen he began to develop radical social views, which soon led him into a circle of cultural and radical artists. He was fascinated by the Russian nihilists and by

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

who boasted of dispelling "the darkness of Christianity." He led a life of pleasure and married, but his happiness did not last. New voices announcing spiritual values were then being heard in Denmark. Jørgensen read

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebour ...

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

and others. He broke with Georg Brandes and his school, which would later cause his ruin.

The young poet

From his earliest years, he had shown a strong love of poetry through which he could express his dreams and observations. For the rest of his life, poetry remained one of his more prominent modes of expression. But with his innate melancholy temperament, he found no permanent place in

cultural radicalism Cultural radicalism (Danish: ''Kulturradikalisme'') was a movement in first Danish, but later also Nordic culture in general. It was particularly strong in the Interwar Period, but its philosophy has its origin in the 1870s and a great deal of m ...

and materialism, where

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

and

connoisseur A connoisseur (French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...

, summarized in

pantheism Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

's worship of nature was prevalent. Therefore, he began a quest for more spiritually motivated sources of inspiration together with other like-minded people. As an editor of the magazine '' Taarnet'' (''The Tower'' in English) in the years 1893–94, he had an outlet for expressing his ideas about

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

, and his opposition to naturalism. Before his magazine ''Taarnet'' Jørgensen published a manifesto on his understanding of symbolism in another Danish magazine '' Tilskueren''. Symbolists quickly came across the prevailing literary circles, in particular, the brothers Georg and

Edvard Brandes Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes (21 October 1847, in Copenhagen – 20 December 1931, in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes and Ernst Brandes. He had a Ph.D. in eastern philology. Biograp ...

, who did not spare the young rebels. Johannes Jørgensen then met a young Jewish silversmith,

Mogens Ballin Mogens Ballin (20 March 1871, Copenhagen – 27 January 1914, Hellerup) was a Danish artist, one of a group of painters who gathered in the Breton village of Pont-Aven School, Pont-Aven. He later became a notable silversmith designing jewelry and ...

, who had converted to Catholicism. He had not reached the spiritual depth he had sought. From his childhood home he had inherited an entrenched base of Christianity, and even at his most radical period this base never quite left him. It now returned in the form of

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

. It took a long time with many internal battles before he found the port of spiritual comfort, though many internal and external factors constantly tore at him.

Conversion to the Catholic Church

In 1894 Jørgensen (together with

) first visited the

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi; la, Basilica Sancti Francisci Assisiensis) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi, a town in the Umbria region in ce ...

. It was the beginning of what would come to fill most of his future life as both man and writer – namely the love of the Holy St. Francis, Assisi's famous son who was born here and worked here until he died in 1226. The close friendship with

and visiting the Basilica of St. Francis led to his conversion to Catholicism in 1896, a crucial turning point in his writing.

World war one

In 1915 Johannes Jørgensen published the documentary novel Klokke Roland. In Denmark Klokke Roland went into 21 printings and the book was published in both French and English in 1916 (La Cloche Roland, False Witness). The book describes the German invasion of Belgium in 1914. This was, according to Jørgensen, a heinous act with bloody and cruel consequences for the Belgian people. The publication created outrage among the German authorities and led to diplomatic tensions between Denmark and Germany. Things escalated to a point where the Germans demanded legal action be brought against Jørgensen and the daily newspaper Politiken, which had published a positive review of the book. The case was a delicate one for Danish authorities, who went to great lengths not to provoke a German invasion

Saint biographies

In 1907 Jørgensen finished his biography of St. Francis, a book which would make him famous and an honorary citizen both in Assisi and later also in his native town of Svendborg. He had previously worked with the saint from Assisi. In 1902 he had translated ''

Fioretti The ''Little Flowers of St. Francis'' ( it, Fioretti di San Francesco) is a florilegium (excerpts of his body of work), divided into 53 short chapters, on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi that was composed at the end of the 14th century. The ...

'' into Danish, and the following year he had published a book with the Pilgrim's depiction of the Franciscan sites. The Franciscan spirituality came to dominate his thoughts. In 1915 settled in Assisi, only interrupted by the war years 1943–1945 when he traveled to

Vadstena Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality. Despite its small population, Vadstena ...

, Sweden to live and begin his great work on St. Birgitta. It was his third major biography of saints, following the book of

St. Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church. ...

(1915). His embracing of the Franciscan spirit led to a series of books based on the

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

n world where spirit and nature always led to a higher unity. Johannes Jørgensen's life had had an almost sentimental affinity to nature, seasons, flowers and life's affirmative diversity. This had developed into a pantheistic natural worship in his youth. But in the depiction of St. Francis's relationship with nature as God's true image, the two passion within him merged – nature and God. The deity who in his youth was the human relationship to nature now turned into an expression of God's truth.

Home to Denmark

Johannes Jorgensen Svendborg 9 Mindesten

After the war ended he returned to Assisi, but age was starting to weigh him down. In 1952 he moved back to Svendborg, where the city offered him free honorary residence in his childhood home of Lady Alley. In 1913 he left his wife, Amalie F. Ewald and their seven children after an increasingly problematic marriage. As a Catholic he could not remarry, but when Amalie died in 1935, he married (in 1937) the Austrian-born Helen Klein. He became an honorary citizen of Assisi 1922 and in Svendborg 1936 and dr. phil. hc ved Universitetet i Louvain 1927. Moreover, he was made Knight of the Dannebrog in 1920 and Commander of the 2nd grade 1926. degree 1926. Johannes Jørgensen died on 29 May 1956, almost 90 years old. He was buried at the city cemetery.

Pictorial representations

*Portrait painting by Johan Rohde, 1922 (Frederiksborg Castle) and Johannes Nielsen, 1937. *Bust of Chresten Skikkild, 1926 in County Library in Svendborg. *Drawings by Ragnvald Blix, 1904; Andrée Carof, 1915; Paolo Ghiglia, 1924; and Gerda Ploug Sarp. *Woodcuts by Hans Olsen 1897 .

Analyzing his works

Johannes Jørgensen's writing is difficult to categorize. His Catholicism made him interesting far outside the Catholic Church. In his travel books he can be compared to Fyn Hans Christian Andersen. His sublime sense of language has made him loved by many. While in Denmark he was a stranger, so his writing enjoyed much more attention at home than abroad, while Hans Christian Andersen is often translated from Danish. Johannes Jørgensen's poetry is perhaps the most interesting part of his writing, and many read his poems in his homeland. Many look even today at his poetry for his beautiful styling and incomparable natural sense.

Kaj Munk

Following the murder of Kaj Munk on 4 January 1944 the Danish resistance newspaper De frie Danske brought condemning reactions from influential Scandinavians, including Jørgensen.

Works

Among his works are: * ''A Stranger'' – novel, 1890 * ''Moods'' – poems, 1892 * ''Summer'' – novel, 1892 * ''Confession'' – poems, 1894 * ''Homesickness'' – novel, 1894 * ''Pilgrim Book'' – travelogue, 1903 * ''St. Francis of Assisi'' – Biography, 1907 In the 18th edition of the ''Danish Folk High School Songbook'' there are three poems by John Jørgensen: Francis of Assisi Solsang "Almighty and dear God", "Now lit foliage in forests" and "Lay down your head, you blossom".

References

Sources

* Ove Klausen, ''Introduktion til Johannes Jørgensens forfatterskab, efterskift i Johannes Jørgensen'', Tråden ovenfra. 1999. * Stig Holsting og Oluf Schönbeck (red.), ''Fagerø. En antologi om Johannes Jørgensen og hans forfatterskab''. 2006 * Teddy Petersen, ''Et menneske kommer derhen, hvor det vil. Biografi''. 2006. * Henrik Denman, ''Johannes Jørgensen litteraturen. Bøger og artikler på dansk 1893-2007''. 2008 * W. Glyn Jones, ''Han blev aldrig italiener. Johannes Jørgensens forfatterskab''. 2008.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193643/http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/saints/catherine/revue/page19.htm#joergensen * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Johannes 20th-century Danish biographers Male biographers 19th-century Danish poets Danish male poets Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Roman Catholic writers Danish Roman Catholics People from Svendborg 1866 births 1956 deaths Danish male novelists 19th-century male writers 19th-century Danish novelists Catholic poets Danish magazine founders