Vilhelm Christian Sigurd Topsøe (5 October 1840 – 11 July 1881) was a Danish novelist and journalist. He is remembered in particular for ''Jason med det gyldne Skind'' (Jason and the Golden Fleece, 1875) and ''Nutidsbilleder'' (Images of Today, 1878).

Biography

Born in

Skælskør Skælskør () is a town in Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Skælskør was the seat of Skælskør Municipality. The town is located 17 km southwest of Slagelse and 12 km southeast o ...

in the west of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, Topsøe attended the

cathedral school Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these ...

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

before moving with his mother to Copenhagen where he matriculated from the Metropolitan School in 1859. He went on to study law, graduating in 1865, but while a student also contributed to the ''Familiekarakteristikker'' (Family Characteristics) column in the daily newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

''. In 1863, he published a humorous weekly paper ''Sværmere'' (Swarms) in which he wrote satirical political parodies from his national liberal viewpoint. He continued to work for ''Dagbladet'' where he became the parliamentary correspondent under the editor Carl Steen Andersen Bille (1828-1898). In 1870, he travelled to Geneva and Paris which led to his ''Fra Schweitz og Frankrig. Rejseskildringer af politisk og socialt Indhold'' (From Switzerland and France: Political and Social Impressions) and the following year to North America writing ''Fra America'' (From America, published 1872). In 1872, he became the editor of ''Dagbladet''. He maintained the post for nine years until he died unexpectedly in 1881 while on holiday in

Skodsborg Skodsborg is a small town/suburb approx. 20 km. north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town has a population of 1,228 (1 January 2024)

north of Copenhagen His novels, ''Jason med det gyldne Skind'' (Jason and the Golden Fleece, 1875), ''Nutidsbilleder'' (Images of Today, 1878) and the collection of short stories ''Fra Studiebogen'' (From the Study Book, 1879) were all published anonymously. His work was acclaimed by

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Early life and education Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son o ...

and

Vilhelm Andersen Vilhelm Rasmus Andreas Andersen (16 October 1864 – 3 April 1953) was a Danish author, literary historian and intellectual, who primarily focused on the study of Danish literature. He was one of the first to use the term "Danish Golden Age, Gold ...

References

External links

*
Vilhelm Topsøe from Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur
(in Danish).

Literature

*Andersen, Vilhelm. ''Vilhelm Topsøe: et bidrag til den danske realismes historie''. Gad: Copenhagen (1922) (in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Topsoe, Vilhelm 19th-century Danish journalists 19th-century Danish newspaper editors 1840 births 1881 deaths Danish male novelists 19th-century Danish novelists 19th-century Danish male writers People from Slagelse Municipality