Henrik Pontoppidan, the Danish Nobel laureate, gifted the world with literary masterpieces, and among them stands tall “Lykke-Per,” a novel published in eight volumes between 1898 and 1904. This significant work, enshrined in the Danish Culture Canon in 2004, narrates the compelling journey of Per Sidenius. For readers encountering this character, a natural question arises: was Per Sidenius a real person? While Per Sidenius is a fictional character, his creation is deeply rooted in the reality of his author’s life and the societal currents of the time.
Per Sidenius is portrayed as an ambitious and intelligent young man who dares to break away from his religious upbringing. Driven by a vision to become an engineer, he aims to revolutionize energy with innovative wind turbines. However, despite achieving considerable success, Per finds himself tethered to his past. His family background and personal complexities ultimately lead him to relinquish his flourishing career and a promising relationship with a woman of Jewish heritage.
Pontoppidan’s creation of Per Sidenius wasn’t from thin air. The author consciously infused elements of his own life into this character. Just as Per, Henrik Pontoppidan was born into a religious family in Jutland, with his father serving as a vicar. Pontoppidan, too, ventured to Copenhagen to pursue engineering studies before eventually finding his true calling in writing. This biographical parallel lends a layer of authenticity and depth to Per’s experiences and struggles within the novel.
“Lykke-Per” garnered significant attention from prominent German literary figures like Thomas Mann, Georg Lukács, and Ernst Bloch. They lauded it as “a cosmopolitan masterpiece of epochal sweep and a profound social, psychological, and metaphysical anatomy of the modernist transition.” Its universal themes resonated across languages, leading to translations into 11 languages by the late 20th century. English readers, however, had to wait until 2010 to access the first English translation by Naomi Lebowitz, broadening the reach of Per Sidenius’s story.
At its core, “Lykke-Per” delves into the intricate relationship between “luck” and “happiness”—two concepts encapsulated by the single Danish word “lykke.” Initially, Per equates happiness with worldly success and the accomplishment of grand projects. His journey, however, leads him to a profound realization: happiness is not contingent on external achievements or fortunate circumstances. Pontoppidan portrays Per’s eventual retreat from the bustling Copenhagen society not as a defeat, but as a triumph. It signifies a victory over the conventional definitions of success and a deeper understanding of true contentment.
The narrative unfolds with Per Sidenius, the young engineer, leaving his devout Christian family in Western Denmark for Copenhagen. He rejects his inherited faith, embracing the allure of the Polytechnical University and harboring ambitions of becoming a “conqueror” in his chosen field. Copenhagen exposes him to the revolutionary wave of modernity, manifested in scientific and technological advancements, and the sophisticated Jewish intellectual circles of the city’s elite.
He develops a friendship with banker Philip Salomon and experiences a complex relationship with Salomon’s daughter, Jakobe. Fueled by his engineering prowess, Per conceives an ambitious project involving canals and harbor systems in Jutland. He passionately lobbies for his vision within political and academic spheres. Despite initial dismissal from academia, Per’s persistence and connections within the banking world, perceived as more progressive, garner him support. Ultimately, the project falters, leading Per back to Jutland. There, he reconnects with his Christian faith, embracing a life of contemplation and undertaking the mundane responsibilities of a civil servant.
The poignant quote from the novel encapsulates Per’s ultimate understanding: “When, in spite of all the good fortune that had come his way, he wasn’t happy, it was because he had not wanted to be happy in the general sense of the word.” This reinforces the central theme that Per Sidenius, while not a real historical figure, embodies a deeply human and relatable journey of ambition, disillusionment, and the search for genuine happiness. He is a fictional character crafted with threads of reality, making his story all the more impactful and enduring.
