Christian Winther (1796 - 1876)

Rasmus Villads Christian Ferdinand Winther (July 29, 1796 – December 30, 1876), was a Danish lyric poet. He was born at Fensmark near Næstved, where his father was the vicar. He went to the University of Copenhagen in 1815, and studied theology, taking his degree in 1824. He began to publish verse in 1819, but no collected volume appeared until 1828. Meanwhile, from 1824 to 1830, Winther was supporting himself as a tutor. A large inheritance from his uncle, Rasmus Winther, allowed him in 1830 to travel to Italy for a year. In 1835 a second volume of lyric poems appeared, and in 1838 a third. Further collections of lyrics appeared in 1842, 1848, 1850, 1853, 1865 and 1872. In 1851 he, who had for most of his life been pestered by heavy debts, received a pension from the state as a poet, and for the next quarter of a century he resided mainly in Paris.