Born into a poor family in the Christianshavn slums of Copenhagen, Nexo spent much of his youth on the Baltic island of Bornholm. After working as a shepherd and shoemaker's apprentice, he was finally able to attend school with the assistance of a patron. He then worked for a time as a teacher until 1901 when he devoted his time to writing. The first of his major works, Pelle the Conqueror, appeared in four volumes between 1906 and 1910 and was a great success. He followed this success with the five-volume, Ditte, Daughter of Man. Following World War I, Nexo, who admired the Soviet social experiment, became a Communist and travelled to the Soviet Union on a number of occasions. After Denmark joined Nato in 1949, Nexo moved to East Germany where he remained until his death. His other works include In God's Land (1929), Under the Open Sky (1932-39) and Morten the Red (1945). |
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