Johan Ludvig Heiberg

Johan Ludvig Heiberg , 1791-1860, Danish writer, director of the National Theater. In the play Christmas Fun and New Year's Jesting (1817), he satirized leading contemporary writers. As a defender of classical drama, Heiberg became an influential figure in Danish literature and criticism. He composed many vaudevilles, or musical comedies, based on French models but Danish in subject and humor. Among his works is The Hill of the Elves (1828), probably the most frequently performed of Danish plays. Heiberg's pygmalionlike relation to his wife, the successful actress Johanne Heiberg, and to H. C. Andersen is depicted in the play Rain Snakes (1981) by the Swedish playwright P. O. Enquist.

Heiberg, Johan Ludvig (1791–1860), Danish poet, dramatist, and critic. After leaving college he spent six years abroad before settling in Copenhagen, where he became one of the leaders of the city's intellectual and cultural life and was for a time director of the Royal Theatre. His dramatic output began as early as 1814 with Marionetteater, and included over the following years popular successes such as Julespøg og Nytaarsløjer (Christmas and New Year Fun and Games, 1816) and the vaudeville Kong Salomon og Jørgen hattemager (King Solomon and Jørgen the Hatter, 1825). His reputation as a dramatist reached its peak in 1828 with Elverhøj (Elfin Hill), a romantic blend of realism and fantasy, which retains its popularity today. Of his later works, Fata Morgana (1838), Syvsoverdag (Day of the Seven Sleepers, 1840), and En sjœl efter døden (A Soul after Death, 1841)—the last an elegantly satirical verse drama and the pinnacle of his achievement—are the most noteworthy. He married in 1831 the actress Johanne Pätges (1812–90) who until her retirement in 1864 was supreme among Danish actresses. She was the author of several light but popular vaudevilles.