Vilhelm Topsøe


Vilhelm Christian Sigurd Topsøe was a Danish novelist and journalist. He is remembered in particular for Jason med det gyldne Skind and Nutidsbilleder.

Biography

Born in Skælskør in the west of Zealand, Topsøe attended the cathedral school in Roskilde before moving with his mother to Copenhagen where he matriculated from the Metropolitan School in 1859. He went on to study law, graduating in 1865, but while a student also contributed to the Familiekarakteristikker column in the daily newspaper Dagbladet. In 1863, he published a humorous weekly paper Sværmere in which he wrote satirical political parodies from his national liberal viewpoint. He continued to work for Dagbladet where he became the parliamentary correspondent under the editor Carl Steen Andersen Bille. In 1870, he travelled to Geneva and Paris which led to his Fra Schweitz og Frankrig. Rejseskildringer af politisk og socialt Indhold and the following year to North America writing Fra America. In 1872, he became the editor of Dagbladet. He maintained the post for nine years until he died unexpectedly in 1881 while on holiday in Skodsborg north of Copenhagen
His novels, Jason med det gyldne Skind, Nutidsbilleder and the collection of short stories Fra Studiebogen were all published anonymously. His work was acclaimed by Herman Bang and Vilhelm Andersen.

Literature