{{short description|20th-century Danish writer}} {{Use British English|date=October 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox writer | name = Hans Christian Branner | image = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|6|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Ordrup, Denmark | death_date = {{Death date and age|1966|4|24|1903|6|23|df=y}} | death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | occupation = {{cslist|novelist|playwright}} | language = Danish | notable_works = {{ubl|{{lang|da|Rytteren}} (1949)|{{lang|da|Ingen Kender natten}} (1955)}} | awards = {{ubl|Holberg Medal (1954)|Danish Playwrights' Honorary Award (1961)}} }} '''Hans Christian Branner''' (23 June 1903 – 24 April 1966) was a Danish novelist, essayist and playwright. He was a leading writer of the post-World War II period in Denmark and a founder member of the Danish Academy. His work dealt with the themes of power, fear and loneliness and earned him several literary awards including De Gyldne Laurbær (1950, for {{lang|da|Rytteren}}), the Holberg Medal (1954) and the Danish Playwrights' Honorary Award (1961).
==Life== Hans Christian Branner was born in Ordrup, near Copenhagen, on 23 June 1903.<ref name=EB>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Christian-Branner|title=Hans Christian Branner|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> His father Christian Branner, who died when Hans was five, was a headmaster and his maternal grandfather H.C. Frederikson founded the local school (Ordrup Gymnasium).{{sfn|Markey|1973|p=13}} Branner studied philology at the University of Copenhagen<ref name=EB/> and prior to becoming a writer he made an unsuccessful attempt at an acting career which he gave up in 1923 to work for a publishing house.<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Markey|1973|p=11}}{{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} In June 1930 he married Karen Moldrup.{{sfn|Markey|1973|p=14}} He resigned from his job in early 1932 and in September that year he made his literary debut with the a short story published in a magazine.{{sfn|Markey|1973|p=14}} He wrote several radio plays and short stories in the early 1930s before attracting attention with the publication of {{lang|da|Legetøj}} (1936; Toys); a novel set in a toy factory which can be interpreted as an allegorical parallel to events in neighbouring Germany.{{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} This was followed in 1937 by his novel {{lang|da|Barnet leger ved Stranden}} (The Child Is Playing by the Beach){{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} and a collection of short stories, {{lang|da|Om lidt er vi borte}} (In a Little While We Are Gone) in 1939.<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Seymour-Smith|2017|p=1109}} His 1942 novel {{lang|da|Historien om Børge}} was translated into English as ''The Story of Börge'' in 1973.<ref name=EB/> In 1944 he published the collection {{lang|da|To Minutters Stilhed}} (Two Minutes of Silence) which was placed at number 42 in the Danish book of the century list produced by ''Politiken'' in 1999.<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Seymour-Smith|2017|p=1109}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.litteraturpriser.dk/polaarh.htm |title=Århundredes danske bog |trans-title=Danish Book of the Century |publisher=Danske Litteraturpriser |access-date=26 September 2023}}</ref> In 1944 he also contributed a short story, "Angst", based on his 1942 short story "{{lang|da|Trommerne|italic=no}}" (The Drums), to the underground publication {{lang|da|Der Brænder en Ild}} (A fire is burning). This collection included works by several notable Danish authors, including Kjeld Abell and Tove Ditlevsen, and was produced illegally due to the German occupation of Denmark.{{sfn|Mussari|2021|pp=156–7}} An expanded version of "Angst" was published in 1947.{{sfn|Mussari|2021|p=158}}
In 1945 and 1949 Branner translated Franz Kafka's ''The Trial'' and ''The Castle'' into Danish.{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=23}} The themes used by Kafka are reflected in {{lang|da|Rytteren}} (1949; The Riding Master, 1951); a short novel by Branner that won De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) literary award in 1950.<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=23}}{{sfn|Bogmarkedet|2009|p=26}} {{lang|da|Rytteren}} became his first stage drama when it was adapted into a play of the same title.{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}} As an essayist Branner examined crisis and guilt in his 1950 work {{lang|da|Humanismens Krise}} (The Crisis of Humanism).{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}} His concern for humanism would later be the key theme of his 1958 play ''Thermopylae''.{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}} In 1952 he wrote the play {{lang|da|Søskende}} (Siblings, translated as The Judge, 1955) which explored the themes of loneliness and fear, and was made into a film of the same name in 1966.<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}}{{sfn|Goble|1999|p=53}} He was awarded the Holberg Medal in 1954<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teaterleksikon.lex.dk/Holberg-Medaljen|title=Holberg-Medaljen|website=Gyldendals Teater-Leksikon|access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> and was the recipient of the Drachmannlegatet the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://skagenskunstmuseer.dk/museer/drachmanns-hus/drachmannlegatet/|title=Drachmannlegatet|website=Skagens Kunstmuseer|access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> In 1955 Branner created "one of Denmark's most effective postwar novels dealing with the German occupation"{{sfn|Mussari|2021|p=162}} when he reworked the main themes of "{{lang|da|Trommerne|italic=no}}" and "Angst" into his novel {{lang|da|Ingen Kender natten}} (translated as No Man Knows the Night, 1958).{{sfn|Mussari|2021|p=162}} He was one of the 12 founding members of the Danish Academy in 1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.danskeakademi.dk/detdanskeakademi/historie_akademietogrungstedlund.asp|title=Historie|website=Det Danske Akademi|access-date=13 October 2021|archive-date=12 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912230045/http://www.danskeakademi.dk/detdanskeakademi/historie_akademietogrungstedlund.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was the 1961 recipient of the Danish Playwrights' Honorary Award.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://dramatiker.dk/priser/|title= Danske Dramatikeres Hæderspris |website=Danske Dramatikere|access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> Later works included the radio plays {{lang|da|Et spil om Kærligheden og døden}} (A Play on Love and Death; 1960) and {{lang|da|Mørket mellem træerne}} (Darkness Among the Trees; 1965).{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=11–12}} ''Ariel'', a 1963 collection of short stories, was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1965.{{sfn|Markey|1973|p=153}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.norden.org/en/node/33627|title=Nominerede 1965|website=Nordic Co-operation|access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> Branner died in Copenhagen on 24 April 1966.<ref name=EB/>
==Works== {{small|Key: essay (E), novel (N), play (P), collection of short stories (SS)}} {{div col}} *{{lang|da|Legetøj}} (N; 1936){{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} *{{lang|da|Barnet leger ved Stranden}} (N; 1937){{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} *{{lang|da|Om lidt er vi borte}} (SS; 1939)<ref name=EB/> *{{lang|da|Drømmen om en kvinde}} (1941){{sfn|Rossel|1992|p=384}} *{{lang|da|Historien om Børge}} (N; 1942)<ref name=EB/> *{{lang|da|To Minutters Stilhed}} (SS; 1944)<ref name=EB/> *{{lang|da|Rytteren}} (N, P; 1949, 1950)<ref name=EB/>{{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}} *{{lang|da|Humanismens Krise}} (E; 1950){{sfn|Friis|1973|p=12}} *{{lang|da|Søskende}} (P; 1952)<ref name=EB/> *{{lang|da|Ingen Kender natten}} (N; 1955){{sfn|Mussari|2021|p=162}} *{{lang|da|Jeg elsker dig}} (P; 1956){{sfn|Friis|1973|p=11}} *''Thermopylae'' (P; 1958){{sfn|Friis|1973|p=23}} *{{lang|da|Et spil om Kærligheden og døden}} (P; 1960){{sfn|Friis|1973|p=11}} *''Ariel'' (SS; 1963){{sfn|Markey|1973|p=153}} *{{lang|da|Mørket mellem træerne}} (P; 1965){{sfn|Friis|1973|p=11–12}} {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |author=Danske boghandlerforening |title=Bogmarkedet |publisher=Den danske forlæggerforening og Den danske boghandlerforening |issue=vb. 155,nr. 1–12 |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdJEAQAAIAAJ |ref={{SfnRef|Bogmarkedet|2009}}}} *{{cite book|editor-first=Erik J.|editor-last=Friis|title=Modern Nordic Plays: Denmark|publisher=Twayne Publications|year=1973|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lw7sxlHJ-qAC}} *{{cite book|last=Goble|first=Alan|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|publisher=Bowker-Saur|year=1999|isbn=1-85739-229-9}} *{{cite book|first=Thomas L.|last=Markey|title=H.C. Branner|year=1973|publisher=Twayne Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItsrAAAAMAAJ|isbn=9780805721720}} *{{cite book|editor-first=Sven Hakon|editor-last=Rossel|title=A History of Danish Literature|year=1992|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=9780803238862 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzUXE3FNPZQC}} *{{cite book|first=Martin|last=Seymour-Smith|title=Guide to Modern World Literature|year=2017|publisher=Macmillan Education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FddDwAAQBAJ|isbn=9781349064182}} *{{cite book|editor-first=Marianne|editor-last=Stecher-Hansen|first=Mark|last=Mussari|chapter=Hans Christian Branner: Angst and the Existential Crisis of War in Denmark|title=Nordic War Stories|publisher=Berghahn Books|year=2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7cCEAAAQBAJ|isbn=9781789209624}} {{refend}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0105147|name=H.C. Branner}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Branner, Hans Christian}} Category:1903 births Category:1966 deaths Category:20th-century Danish male writers Category:University of Copenhagen alumni