Religious Figure, Author. He received recognition in the 19th century as the founder of Grundtvigianism, a theological movement that revitalized the Danish Lutheran Church. Besides being a Danish religious figure, he was also known as a poet, a hymn writer, a preserver of Danish culture, educator, and pioneer in the study of early Scandinavian literature. In 1803, he received a degree in theology from the University of Copenhagen and began to study ancient Icelandic literature. Inspired by Romanticism, he wrote "Northern Mythology" in 1808. In 1811 he became the clergy of his own congregation, and in 1812 wrote "World Chronicle, " a three-volume text on world history from the Christian viewpoint that gained him much attention. After criticizing the Lutheran Church for traditional viewpoints, he was unable to find a congregation from 1813 to 1821. During this time he wrote "The Roskilde Rhymes" in 1814 and other poems. He also wrote "Biblical Sermons" in 1816, calling for a renewal of the spirit of Martin Luther, and after traveling to England several times, his version of "Beowult" in 1820. He often opposed the Romantic philosophers such as the younger Soren Kiekegaard. Once again in 1825, he criticized the church with his "The Church's Reply," accusing the theologian Dr. N.H. Clausen of treating Christianity as a philosophical idea; this led to an injunction court case for defamation, which Clausen won. He maintained that Christianity had historical revelation, which was handed down through generations in a unbroken chain of a living sacramental tradition at baptism and communion. His writings were placed under censorship, thus he resigned his post in the church in 1826 but continued to write, "Christian Sermons" from 1827 to 1830, "Northern Mythology" in 1832, and "Handbook of World History" from 1833 to 1843. He supported the need for education with the text, "Schools for Life" in 1838 and encouraged, instead of Latin, the knowledge of the Danish language and Biblical history be taught in schools. In 1844, his stance led to "Folk High School" education being offered to students of every social class, which inspired other Scandinavian countries to do the same. He had the support of Denmark's Queen Carolina Amalie while her husband was living. In 1838, he was appointed as the chaplain at Spital Church at Vartov Hospital in Copenhagen, and received the rank of Bishop though never given a diocese. His outlook found political expression in the introduction of a new Danish parliamentary government in 1849, and he was elected to served as a member from 1849 to 1859. He is considered one of the greatest Scandinavian hymn writers with 754 in his "Song Collection for the Danish Church" from 1837 to 1881, which contained new versions of old Christian hymns as well as 271 of his original hymns that have been sung in Norwegian, Swedish, German, and English translations. His hymn "Land of the Living," was named in 2006 as part of the Danish Culture Canon. Selected writings of his were also published in English starting in 1976. Born Nikolaj Frederik Severin and the last of seven children, his parents were Johan Ottosen Grundtvig, a Lutheran pastor, and Catharine Maria Bang. His father was one of the few Lutheran pastors who remained faithful to the fundamental evangelical teachings of Christianity that would be later threatened by the "Rationalism Movement," which supported rejecting traditional religious beliefs. He married three times and fathered five children: Elizabeth Blicher; Marie Toft, who died from childbirth complications months after giving birth to a son; and Asta Reedtz. His last poem "Long Enough Now Has My Life Run" was written in 1872. There are numerous statues of him throughout Denmark. On September 2nd, he is commemorated as a bishop and a renewer of the church in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.