Background
Brandes was born on October 21, 1847 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Brandes was born on October 21, 1847 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Originally studying oriental languages at the University of Copenhagen, he specialized in Persian and Sanskrit, publishing translations from Sanskrit.
He later turned to literature and politics. As well as criticism of modern Danish and foreign drama, he wrote his own plays and even tried his hand at acting.
He also worked as a journalist for and was influential the Radical party. When the party split away from the left Reform in 1884, he founded and solely edited the opposition paper, Politiken. Aside from belonging to the Chamber of Deputies twice, from 1889 to 1894, and from 1906 to 1927, he was minister of finance in 1909—1910 and 1913—1920.