Elisabeth (Lis) Jacobsen, née Rubin, (29 January 1882 - 18 June 1961) was a Danish philologist, archaeologist and writer.
[1][2] Born on 29 January 1882 in Copenhagen, Jacobsen grew up in a rich Jewish family, the daughter of Marcus Rubin (1854–1923), director of the National Bank of Denmark, and his wife Kaja Davidsen (1854–1909).
In 1904, she began to study Scandinavian philology at Copenhagen University where she was awarded the university's gold medal for her 1907 essay Naar og hvorledes har det fællesnordiske Sprog spaltet sig i forskellige Grene (When and how the common Nordic language broke up into different branches).
[1][3] Realizing the limitations of further research into the Danish language owing to the absence of adequate texts and dictionaries, in 1911, thanks to the support of Kristian Erslev and Carl S. Petersen, she founded the Society for Danish Language and Literature (Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab or DSL) which she headed until 1931, whereafter she served as administrator.
[2][3] In collaboration with Harald Juul-Jensen (1882–1949), Jacobsen organized the work of publishing a comprehensive Danish dictionary, Ordbog over det danske Sprog which appeared in 28 volumes from 1919 to 1956.