HAUCH, JOHANNES CARSTEN

born May 12, 1790, Fredrikshald [now Halden], Nor. died March 4, 1872, Rome, Italy Danish poet, dramatist, and novelist whose works expressed his high moral seriousness and tragic outlook. As a student, Hauch was strongly attracted by Romanticism; but, after early literary attempts, he turned to natural sciences, particularly zoology. He took his doctorate in 1821 and then studied in Paris and Italy. In 1825 he had a foot amputated and shortly afterward attempted suicide. He emerged from the spiritual crisis with a renewed desire to write. On his return to Denmark, he was successively lecturer in natural sciences at Sor, professor of Scandinavian literature at Kiel (184648), and professor of aesthetics at Copenhagen from 1851 until his death. As a dramatist, Hauch wrote mostly historical tragedies about men of destinyBajazet, Tiberius, and Gregor den Syvende (Pope Gregory VII), all in 1828and about great Danish figures such as Svend Grathe (1841) and Marsk Stig (1850). The gloom of his plays, which are filled with suffering, is relieved somewhat by his high moral ideals and his belief in universal justice. His historical novels include Vilhelm Zabern (1834), Guldmageren (1836; The Alchemist), En polsk Familie (1839; A Polish Family), and Robert Fulton (1853). But his greatest success was as a poet, particularly as a writer of odes. One of his most important poetic works was the ballad cycle Valdemar Atterdag (1861). Collections of his poems include Lyriske digte (1842; Lyrical Poems), Lyriske digte og romancer (1861; Lyrical Poems and Romances), and Nye digtninger (1869; New Poetry).