Erik Arup

Who was Erik Arup?

Erik Ipsen Arup was a Danish historian, known as the pioneer of radical-liberal history writing in Denmark.

Born as the son of a Zealandian provincial doctor, he grew up during the long years of the Danish constitutional struggle. As a young man he was deeply impressed by Viggo Hørup and his political anti-militarist line. He was educated as both a theologian and a historian. During World War I Arup was connected to the social-liberal Zahle cabinet as a permanent under-secretary. From 1916 to 1947 he was a professor at the University of Copenhagen.

First and foremost, Arup should be seen as one of the early Scandinavian materialist historians. His breakthrough came with his dissertation Studier i engelsk og tysk Handels Historie, a pioneering work stressing the geographic and economic, instead of the national or ethnic, background behind the development of trade. In addition to this work, he notably wrote on economic history in Schleswig-Holstein, on medieval economy, and on 18th Century foreign policy - besides producing a quick and popular biography of his inspirational figure Hørup.