Danish writer and journalist Herman Bang was BOTD in 1857. Born in Asserballe on the island of Als, he was the son of a clergyman and the grandson of the royal physician Oluf Lundt Bang. His family moved to Horsens in Jutland in 1864, and he attended the Sorø Academy before studying law at the University of Copenhagen. He left in 1877, unsuccessfully attempting to become an actor, though had more success as a journalist, writing for Danish, Nordic and German newspapers. His first novel Håblose slaegter (Hopeless Generations), published in 1880 when he was 23, shocked readers with its depiction of an affair between a young nobleman and his older mistress. Banned by police and officially declared obscene, the book helped establish his literary reputation. He settled in Copenhagen, producing novels, poetry, short stories, and literary criticism, making public performances of his work and adopting the persona of a decadent dandy. A leading exponent of literary Impressionism, his work typically focused on women living in isolated communities and unhappy love affairs, earning the admiration of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Discreetly gay, Bang shared a house for many years with the openly gay journalist Christian Houmark, and moved to Prague in 1885 to pursue a relationship with German actor Max Eisfeld. In 1893, the murder of a rent boy in Copenhagen led to widespread police interrogations of gay men. To avoid exposure, Bang relocated to Paris, working in the theatre and directing the actress Gabrielle Réjane in a production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. He is perhaps best known for his 1902 novel Mikaël, a melodrama about a homosexual sculptor who becomes obsessed with his young male assistant. Highly controversial on its release, it was filmed by Mauritz Stiller in 1916 as Vingarne (The Wings) and again in 1924 by Carl Theodor Dreyer. In 1906, following another gay sex scandal, Bang was the target of a tabloid press campaign to out him. Devastated by the adverse publicity, he moved in Berlin in 1908, producing short stories about the dark side of fame. Later in life, he collaborated with German doctor Max Wasbutzki on an essay on homosexuality, which they described as a social and scientific problem. Bang died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Utah in 1912, midway through a reading tour of the United States. He was 54.