Poet, playwright, and vicar at Vedersø parish church in Jutland, Denmark, since 1924. He made his debut as a dramatist in 1924, and by 1940 he had had 9 plays staged in Copenhagen. His greatest success was the play "Ordet" (1932), which was made into a film in 1954 by Carl Th. Dreyer (q.v.). His play "Han sidder ved Smeltedigelen" from 1938 dealt with the German persecution of the Jews. By his polemic journalism and scepticism towards democracy and his admiration of past and contemporary "strong" political figures he had been a controversial person during the 1930s. During the German occupation of Denmark from 1940 he spoke boldly against the occupying power and their collaborators in speeches, sermons and poems. He was warned that his life was in danger, but he refused to flee. Then on January 4, 1944 he was fetched at the vicarage by a German terror-group, and the next morning he was found murdered by the roadside near the town of Silkeborg. His funeral 4 days later turned into a national manifestation attended by hundreds of mourners from all walks of life.
Poet, playwright, and vicar at Vedersø parish church in Jutland, Denmark, since 1924. He made his debut as a dramatist in 1924, and by 1940 he had had 9 plays staged in Copenhagen. His greatest success was the play "Ordet" (1932), which was made into a film in 1954 by Carl Th. Dreyer (q.v.). His play "Han sidder ved Smeltedigelen" from 1938 dealt with the German persecution of the Jews. By his polemic journalism and scepticism towards democracy and his admiration of past and contemporary "strong" political figures he had been a controversial person during the 1930s. During the German occupation of Denmark from 1940 he spoke boldly against the occupying power and their collaborators in speeches, sermons and poems. He was warned that his life was in danger, but he refused to flee. Then on January 4, 1944 he was fetched at the vicarage by a German terror-group, and the next morning he was found murdered by the roadside near the town of Silkeborg. His funeral 4 days later turned into a national manifestation attended by hundreds of mourners from all walks of life.
Bio by: Erik Skytte
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