This book introduces Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), the most outstanding intellectual and author in Denmark and Norway of the eighteenth century. A presentation of his life and work is given, with an emphasis on the amazingly broad scope of his writings: Holberg was a sociologist and political thinker, an early feminist, a historian and a philosopher of the Enlightenment. In addition, Holberg's satirical spirit created thirty comedies, many of which are still performed today, and a novel that was immediately translated and read all over Europe. The essays in this book are written by Danish and Norwegian scholars from different fields of research, hereby covering Holberg's wide orientation in the humanities and social sciences. The Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 2003. The main purpose of the memorial fund is to raise the status of the academic fields of the arts and humanities, the social sciences, law and theology. Every year the Board of the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund awards the Holberg International Memorial Prize, and the Nils Klim Prize, a Nordic prize, to scholars under the age of 35. The Holberg Prize School Project is organized annually in order to stimulate interest among children and young people in these academic fields.
