Sophus Christian Frederik Schandorph (or Skamdrup), known simply as Sophus Schandorph, (May 8, 1836 – January 1, 1901), Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and novelist, was born at Ringsted in Zealand. He was one of the men of "the Modern Break-through".

In 1855 he entered the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

. In 1862 he published his first volume of poetry, written in the romantic style and giving little indication of the ultimate direction that his talent was to take. Other books followed, but his gifts first found full expression in a volume of rustic tales entitled Fra Provinsen (1876), in which he described provincial character and life with much frankness of detail and a great deal of wit.

In 1878 his novel, Uden Midtpunkt ("Without a Centre"), recast later in dramatic form, attracted great attention by its exposure of contemporary failings. Among the more famous of his later novels are:

• Thomas Friis' Historie (2 vols, 1881)
• Det gamle Apothek ("The Old Apothecary"[?]) (1855)
• Helga (1900)

But his most characteristic work is to be found in his various volumes of short sketches. He published his own Recollections (Oplevelser) in 1889. He died after a long illness at Frederiksberg

Frederiksberg

Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It surrounded by the city of Copenhagen. The municipality, co-extensive with its seat, covers an area of and has a total population of 98,782 making it the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, the fifth most...

 on New Year's Day 1901.

Today Schandorph is little read and not regarded a very outstanding man of the ”break-through” but he is however an important key figure as an inspiration of Henrik Pontoppidan

Henrik Pontoppidan

Henrik Pontoppidan was a realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short stories — informed with a desire for social progress but despairing, later in his...

and later regionalist and social writers.