Elisabeth (Lis) Jacobsen, née Rubin, (29 January 1882 - 18 June 1961) was a Danish
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
,
archaeologist and writer. She is remembered first and foremost for her research and publications on the history of the
Danish language
Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schle ...
but she was also an expert
runologist
Runology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runic inscriptions and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics.
History
Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was very interested in the lingu ...
who published a comprehensive analysis of all known runic inscriptions in Denmark. From 1911, Jacobsen played a major role in all fields of research related to the Danish language.
Early life and education
Born on 29 January 1882 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Jacobsen grew up in a rich Jewish family, the daughter of Marcus Rubin (1854–1923), director of the
National Bank of Denmark
Danmarks Nationalbank (in Danish often simply ''Nationalbanken'') is the central bank of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is a non-eurozone member of the European System of Central Banks ( ESCB). Since its establishment in 1818, the objective of the ...
, and his wife Kaja Davidsen (1854–1909).
[ After matriculating from ]N. Zahle's School
N. Zahle's School (Danish: N. Zahles Skole) is a private school located on Nørre Voldgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. Named after its founder, Natalie Zahle (1827–1913), it now consists of two independently run primary schools and a Gymnasium.
Hi ...
in 1900, she qualified as a schoolteacher in 1903. The same year she married the historian Jacob Peter Jacobsen. In 1904, she began to study Scandinavian philology at Copenhagen University
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...
where she was awarded the university's gold medal for her 1907 essay ''Naar og hvorledes har det fællesnordiske Sprog spaltet sig i forskellige Grene'' (When and how the common Nordic language broke up into different branches). After receiving her master's degree in 1908, in 1910 she became Denmark's first woman to earn a doctorate in Nordic philology with a thesis titled ''Studier til det danske Rigssprogs Historie fra Eriks Lov til Chr. III.s Bibel'' (Studies on the History of the Danish Language from Erik's Law to Christian III's Bible).
Career
Realizing the limitations of further research into the Danish language owing to the absence of adequate texts and dictionaries, in 1911, thanks to the support of Kristian Erslev and Carl S. Petersen, she founded the Society for Danish Language and Literature (''Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab'' or DSL) which she headed until 1931, whereafter she served as administrator. DSL gained importance through the publication of Jacobsen's numerous works.[
In collaboration with Harald Juul-Jensen (1982–1949), Jacobsen organized the work of publishing a comprehensive Danish dictionary, '' Ordbog over det danske Sprog'' which appeared in 28 volumes from 1919 to 1956. As a result of her interest in ]rune
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
s, thanks to the support of the Carlsberg Foundation
Carlsberg Foundation ( da, Carlsbergfondet) was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palac ...
and in collaboration with Erik Moltke
Erik Moltke (4 April 1901 – 19 October 1984) was a Danish runologist, writer, and editor. Through his leadership, the Runologist Section of the National Museum of Denmark became a world centre for the scientific study of runology
Runology is ...
, ''Danmarks Runeindskrifter'' (Denmark's Runic Inscriptions) was published in 1942, a 3 volume work with descriptions, photographs of all surviving runetones, illustrations of destroyed runestones when available, maps and an index.[ ''Danmarks Runeindskrifter'' provides the same level of completeness for runestones throughout Viking Age Denmark, geographically covering modern Denmark, ]Southern Schleswig
Southern Schleswig (german: Südschleswig or ', da, Sydslesvig; frr, Söödslaswik) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eid ...
, Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
, Halland
Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...
and Blekinge
Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...
. In addition, a pocket size version with the same title was published only containing short descriptions of the runestones.
After the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Jacobsen continued to organize and initiate the creation of other important works, including ''Nordisk Kultur'' (Nordic Culture) and ''Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for nordisk Middelalder'' (Encyclopedia of Medieval Scandinavia), completed in 1979. In 1952, she launched work on the popular ''Nudansk Ordbog'' (Dictionary of Modern Danish) and, in 1957, on ''Synonymordbogen'' (Synonym Dictionary).[
Lis Jacobsen died in ]Hellerup
Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...
on 18 June 1961 and is buried in Sindbjerg near Vejle
Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and th ...
.[ Her husband died from tuberculosis in 1918, leaving her two teenager daughter, one born deaf.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Lis
1882 births
1961 deaths
Scientists from Copenhagen
20th-century Danish philologists
Danish archaeologists
Danish women archaeologists
Women philologists
Danish medievalists
Jewish Danish scientists
Linguists from Denmark
Runologists
20th-century Danish women writers
20th-century Danish historians
Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America
Women medievalists
Danish women historians
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century linguists
20th-century philologists