Biography

Johannes V. Jensen

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Danish novelist Johannes Vilhelm Jensen was born in Faroe, Denmark, in 1873, the son of a veterinarian. He went to school in Viborg, then studied medicine at the University of Copenhagen, but did not finish his studies; he dropped out to travel the world and write. In 1897 he made his first trip to the US, and returned several times (in fact, two of his early novels were set in Chicago). His 1898 novel "Hummerland Stories"--based on his memories of growing up in Jutland--garnered him wide attention in Scandinavia. However, in 1908 he began publishing what became a six-volume history of the Cimbrians, a Teutonic tribe that originated in the Jutland area of Denmark in the Ice Age and gradually overran much of Europe, fading out by the time of Christopher Columbus (who Jensen claimed was actually a Cimbrian). It was known in England as "The Long Journey" and got Jensen noticed in the rest of Europe, not just Scandinavia.

Jensen was not just a novelist and historian but also a poet and playwright--he translated William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" into Danish--and helped to introduce the writings of such American authors as Ernest Hemingway and Walt Whitman to Denmark. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1950.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

A probing analysis of the problems of evolution forms the basis of my prose.
During half a century of literary work, I have endeavoured to introduce the philosophy of evolution into the sphere of literature, and to inspire my readers to think in evolutionary terms.
Whenever one reads of the determination of the species, or opens a book on natural science and history, in whatever language, one inevitably comes across the name of Linne.
The grounding in natural sciences which I obtained in the course of my medical studies, including preliminary examinations in botany, zoology, physics, and chemistry, was to become decisive in determining the trend of my literary work.
For many years I was engaged in journalism, writing articles and chronicles for the daily press without ever joining the staff of any newspaper.

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