Georg Brandes

author

Georg Brandes

1842–1927

A sharp, influential critic who helped push Scandinavian literature toward realism, debate, and modern ideas. His essays and lectures made him one of the key literary voices in Denmark and across Europe in the late 19th century.

13 Audiobooks

Recollections of My Childhood and Youth

Recollections of My Childhood and Youth

by Georg Brandes

Moderne Geister: Literarische Bildnisse aus dem neunzehnten Jahrhundert

Moderne Geister: Literarische Bildnisse aus dem neunzehnten Jahrhundert

by Georg Brandes

Voltaire

Voltaire

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 5. The Romantic School in France

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 5. The Romantic School in France

by Georg Brandes

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 2. The Romantic School in Germany

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 2. The Romantic School in Germany

by Georg Brandes

William Shakespeare: A Critical Study

William Shakespeare: A Critical Study

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 6. Young Germany

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 6. Young Germany

by Georg Brandes

Anatole France

Anatole France

by Georg Brandes

Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century: Literary Portraits

Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century: Literary Portraits

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 4. Naturalism in England

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 4. Naturalism in England

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 1. The Emigrant Literature

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 1. The Emigrant Literature

by Georg Brandes

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 3. The Reaction in France

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 3. The Reaction in France

by Georg Brandes

About the author

Born in Copenhagen in 1842, Georg Brandes became one of Denmark’s best-known critics and scholars. He studied at the University of Copenhagen and built his reputation through essays, lectures, and wide-ranging literary history.

Brandes is especially remembered for championing what became known as the “Modern Breakthrough” in Scandinavian literature. He urged writers to take up real social, moral, and political questions instead of staying with convention and idealized themes, and his work helped shape the reception of major Nordic writers including Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg.

He continued publishing for decades and remained an important public intellectual until his death in Copenhagen in 1927. Today he is still read as a lively, provocative voice in European literary criticism.