Holberg - Johan Ludvig Holberg

Danish playwright and scholar. Born in Bergen, Norway, he lost his parents at an early age and spent his youth alone. He studied at the University of Copenhagen but dropped out and wandered around Europe, majoring in history at Oxford University. After returning to Japan, he wrote An Introduction to the History of the Great Powers of Europe (1711) and earned his doctorate, becoming a professor at Copenhagen University. He was known as a versatile scholar, teaching law, philosophy, classical languages, history, geography, and more. At first he had little interest in literature, but after a poem satirizing a fellow scholar gained popularity, he wrote a long poem exposing the hypocritical society, Peder Paulus (1719-20). He was sued for insulting the citizens, but the king read it and ruled it a "harmless and interesting book," so he was found not guilty.

In 1722, when the first theater was established in the capital, he was asked to try his hand at playwriting, and in about a year and a half he wrote and performed 26 plays, including "The Birthing Room," "The Mountain Eppes," "The Tavern Politician," and "Erasmus Montanus." Many of these works were successful satirical comedies, and he was called the "Northern Europe Moliere," and made Nordic literature known to the world. The above works are still frequently performed today. In 1730, a devout king came to power and closed the theaters, calling them the "source of all evil," and he returned to his studies. He also published a Swift-style satirical novel in Latin, "Niels Clym's Underground Journey" (1740). After the theaters were reopened, he wrote seven new plays, but these works lack the vitality of his former years. Five volumes of letters are also known.

[Yamamuro Shizuka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

デンマークの劇作家、学者。ノルウェーのベルゲンに生まれ、早く父母を失い孤独な青春を過ごす。コペンハーゲン大学に学ぶが、中退しヨーロッパを放浪、オックスフォード大学で史学を専攻。帰国後執筆した『ヨーロッパ列強史序説』（1711）で学位を得、コペンハーゲン大学教授となる。法律、哲学、古典語、歴史、地理などを講じ万能学者として知られる。初め文学的関心は薄かったが、同僚の学者を風刺した詩が評判をよんだことから、偽善的社会を暴露する長詩『ペーデル・パウルス』（1719～20）を書く。この作品は市民を侮辱するものとして訴えられたが、国王が読み「無害なおもしろい本」と裁決したため、無罪となる。

　1722年、首都に初めて劇場が創設されるにあたり、依頼されて劇作を試み、ほぼ1年半の間に『産室』『山のエッペ』『居酒屋政治家』『エラスムス・モンタヌス』など26編を書き、上演。その多くは風刺喜劇として成功を収め、「北欧のモリエール」とよばれ、北欧文学の存在を世界に知らせた。前記の諸作は今日でもしばしば上演される。30年、篤信家の王がたち「劇場は諸悪の源」として閉ざすに及び学業に復帰。またラテン語でスウィフト流の風刺小説『ニイルス・クリムの地下旅行』（1740）を発表。その後劇場が再開され、新作七編を書いたが、これらの作には往年の生色がみられない。書簡五巻も知られる。

［山室　静］

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