Great Danish poet, born at Copenhagen; his poems first brought him into notice and secured him a travelling pension, which he made use of to form acquaintanceship with such men as Goethe and his literary confrères in Germany, during which time he commenced that series of tragedies on northern subjects on which his fame chiefly rests, which include "Hakon Jarl," "Correggio," "Palnatoke," etc.; his fame, which is greatest in the North, has spread, for he ranks among the Danes as Goethe among the Germans, and his death was felt by the whole nation (1779-1850).