Munk, Kaj

Munk, Kaj

▪ Danish playwright
in full  Kaj Harald Leininger Munk  
born Jan. 13, 1898, Maribo, Den.
died Jan. 4, 1944, near Silkeborg
 Danish playwright, priest, and patriot who was a rare exponent of religious drama with a strong sense of the theatre. He revived the “heroic” Shakespearean and Schillerian drama with writing whose passionate quality is not often found among Danish writers.

      Munk studied at the University of Copenhagen, where he began his first produced play, En idealist (1928; Eng. trans. Herod the King). This was originally misunderstood by the critics, although it was acclaimed 10 years later.

      In 1931 his Cant (on the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn) was a success, and Ordet (1932; The Word), a miracle play set among Jutland peasants, established him as Denmark's leading dramatist. Ordet later was made into a motion picture by the Danish director Carl Dryer. For his principal character, Munk often chose a dictator, or “strong man,” whom he showed struggling in vain against God. En idealist, Ordet, and Han sidder ved smeltediglen (1938; He Sits at the Melting-Pot), a drama of Adolf Hitler's Germany, are his three best plays, though several others, such as Cant, Kærlighed (1926), and I Brændingen (1929), remain popular.

      Five Plays, with preface and translations, was published in 1953. Munk was a conscientious and much-loved parish priest, and during World War II his outspoken sermons drew large numbers of persons to the ranks of the Resistance and led to his being killed by the Nazis.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • MUNK, KAJ° — (pseudonym of Harald Leininger; 1898–1944), Danish pastor and playwright. He showed an unusual interest in Jewish themes and his anti Nazi writings and sermons had an incalculable effect on the Danish resistance movement during World War II.… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

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  • Munk, Kaj — pseud. di Petersen, K.H.L …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

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  • Kaj Munk — (eigentlich Kaj Harald Leininger Petersen; * 13. Januar 1898 in Maribo, Lolland, Dänemark; † 4. Januar 1944 in Vedersø, Dänemark) war ein dänischer Pastor, Poet, Gegner Hitlers und Märtyrer. Kaj Munk Büste in Vedersø …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kaj Munk — Kaj Munk, fotografía publicada en febrero de 1994. Nombre completo Kaj Harald Leininger Munk Nacimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • MUNK (K.) — MUNK KAJ (1898 1944) Rien n’est plus paradoxal que la destinée de ce pasteur danois, originaire de Maribo, en Lolland, qui fut si marqué par la Première Guerre mondiale et ses suites immédiates qu’il rompit en lisière avec les idéaux qu’il était… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Kaj Munk — He was born Kaj Harald Leininger Petersen on the island of Lolland, Denmark, and raised by a family named Munk after the death of his parents. From 1924, he was the vicar of Vedersø in Western Jutland.The dramas of Munk were mostly performed and… …   Wikipedia

  • Kaj Munk — peu de temps avant sa mort. Kaj Harald Leininger Munk (couramment appelé Kaj Munk) (né le 13 janvier 1898 à Maribo, sur l île danoise de Lolland, assassiné par la Gestapo le 4 janvier 1944 à Hørbylunde Bakke, près de Silkeborg) était un auteur… …   Wikipédia en Français

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