Hans Scherfig

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Hans Scherfig (born April 8, 1905 in Copenhagen , † January 28, 1979 in Hillerød ) was a Danish writer, painter and graphic artist.

life and work

Scherfig grew up in a middle-class family. From 1924 he studied languages, literature and natural science subjects in Copenhagen, but never earned a degree. In 1931 Scherfig married Elisabeth Karlinsky (1905–1994), an Austro-Danish painter. The director Lone Scherfig (* 1959) is Hans Scherfig's great niece.

Scherfig's literary debut “Den døde mand” (1937) was followed by stories, travelogues, political essays and several novels. Some are among the most important satires in Danish literature . "Den forsvundne fuldmægtig" (1938, filmed in 1971) caricatures bourgeois longings for freedom that allow a ministerial official to fake his own death in order to escape the narrowness and callousness of his marriage. «Det forsønte forår» (1940, filmed in 1993) addresses the inhumane educational methods that had shaped the author's school days. «Idealister» (1943/45) targets esotericists, political dreamers and charlatans. Finally, «Frydenholm» (1962) is the great novel about the Nazi occupation and the collaboration favored by the Danish government . A group of communist villagers forms the positive counterpoint to the corrupt, power-mad representatives of the bourgeois class.

Scherfig was a staunch Marxist and had been a member of the Communist Party since 1932 . That is why he was interned in the Horserød camp in 1941 . However, due to impending blindness, he was released. From 1945 he wrote for the communist daily "Land og Folk".

Scherfig has also found recognition as a painter. Since 1928 he exhibited works. His colorful lithographs with jungle and animal motifs borrow from naive art and are still popular in Denmark today.

Scherfig is buried in the Copenhagen Assistance Cemetery. His grave is adorned with an unmarked tombstone in the shape of a turtle.

Awards

Works in German translation

The GDR publishing house Volk und Welt published:

  • The missing chancellery , transl. Margarete Steffin, 1949 (first 1939)
  • Idealists , 1950
  • The Missed Spring , 2nd edition 1952
  • The scorpion , 1954
  • The dead man , transl. Margarete Steffin, 1958 (first 1939)
  • Frydenholm Castle , 1969
  • The lost monkey , 1975

In the Reclam publishing a satire appeared Ludvig Holberg , retold by Scherfig and illustrated

  • Nicolai Klim's underground journey , 1971

literature

  • Horst Bien u. a .: Northern European literatures . VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1980.
  • Arne Hardis: idealists. En biografi om Hans Scherfig . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 2008 ISBN 87-02-05508-2 .
  • Heiko Uecker, Joachim Trinkwitz: The classics of Scandinavian literature. The great authors from the 18th century to the present day . Meysenburg, Essen 2002. ISBN 3-930508-12-5 .

Web links

notes

  1. ↑ For Steffin see Translator Lexicon, UeLEX, by Anna-Maria Reinert, approx. 2011, accessed on July 30, 2020. German National Library DNB names another translator, a process that needs to be clarified. A new edition from 1992 at Grafit-Verlag mentions another translator.
  2. ↑ DNB names another translator to clarify
personal data
SURNAME Scherfig, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scherfig, Hans Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish writer, painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1979
Place of death Hillerød