author
Kristoffer Nyrop
1858–1931
A Danish scholar with a lively curiosity about language, medieval French literature, and even the social history of the kiss. His books helped bring philology and literary history to a wider audience beyond the university.
1 Audiobook
The kiss and its history
by Kristoffer Nyrop
About the author
Born in Copenhagen on January 11, 1858, Kristoffer Nyrop was a Danish philologist and specialist in Romance languages. He became especially known as a scholar of French language and literature, and he taught at the University of Copenhagen for many years.
Nyrop wrote on a wide range of subjects, from the history of the French epic and the development of the French language to more accessible, popular works about words and culture. That mix of serious scholarship and readable style helped make him an important literary and linguistic voice in Denmark.
He died in Copenhagen on April 13, 1931. Today he is remembered both as an academic expert in Romance philology and as a writer who made the history of language feel vivid and human.