Christian Molbech
Christian Molbech (8 October 1783 – 23 June 1857) was a Danish historian, literary critic, writer and editor of historical sources.
Christian Molbech was raised in Sorø and in 1802 he graduated from Sorø Academy. 1804 he was employed at Royal Danish Library and was thus never formally trained as an historian. 1829 he succeeded Knud Lyne Rahbek as professor in literature at the University of Copenhagen. He also functioned as director of The Royal Danish Theatre 1830–1842.
1839 he participated in the founding of the Danish Historical Society and he was a founder of Historisk Tidsskrift which is the oldest extant scientific historical journal in the world.
Molbech also wrote various philological works f.ex. The Danish dictionary ("Dansk Ordbog" 1828–1833) and "Danish dictionary of dialects" ("Dansk Dialektleksikon 1833-1841).
Furthermore he wrote the "Historical Annals for enlightenment and education in the history of the North, specifically the history of Denmark" (3 volumes 1845–1851) which was meant as references for historians and was groundbreaking in the establishment of the chronology of Danish history.
As a literary critic he was infamous for his devastating reviews of the works of Hans Christian Andersen and Bernhard Severin Ingemann.
Sources
- Danish Biographical Encyclopedia, volume XI, 1. edition 1887-1905.
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