Harald Kidde
Encyclopedia
Harald Henrik Sager Kidde (14 August 1878 in Vejle
– 23 November 1918 in Copenhagen
) was a Danish writer
and brother to the politician Aage Kidde. He is best known for the novel Helten (The Hero), which is one of the key novels in Danish literaturev . Kidde died of Spanish Flu
in 1918. Only 40 years old.
There is an extensive Kidde-archive at Vejle Town Archive
.
road inspector in Vejle County
Chresten Henriksen Kidde (1818–1894) and his wife Inger Dorothea Cornelius (1848-1931). In his childhood he read the Danish author J. P. Jacobsen and German romantic poetry
, which profoundly influenced his perspective on the world. He graduated from Vejle Gymnasium in 1898 and took the mandatory preliminary course in philosophy
for entering the university in 1899 after which he began studying theology
at the University of Copenhagen
. But influenced by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
he could not come to terms with what he saw as the lutheran church's thoroughly inadequte explanations of the inherent contradictions in the Bible
. Even so a self sacrificing Christian
life remained his ideal
for the rest of his life.
in various magazine
s, and he debuted with Sindbilleder (images of the mind) a small collection of atmospheric images and parables in the late summer of 1900. Edvard Brandes
, editor
of the leading newspaper
Politiken
, called the book "a stylish debut". The young critic
and poet Christian Rimestad admired the book and became a close friend of Harald, but far from all the critics understood him and many called his poetry
sickly, effeminate and perverted.
. Three siblings, his best friend and his father died. The protagonist
Tue experiences a struggle in his mind between the ties to those who are not there anymore, and the ties to the love of his youth Lull, that tries to make him forget the death. The novel is full of many strong memories and beautiful descriptions of nature.
Christian Rimestad wrote about it:
When Aage and Else was such an important work and at the same time one of emotionally richest and one of the most thoughtfull of our novels, with elementary greatness and wondrous empathy, with which he explained the mood and emotions unconscious growth. Hardly ever before has a young man in Denmark raided his spiritual
development with such a vigilant sagacity.
Danish author and philosopher Villy Sørensen
writes in Digtere og Dæmoner (Poets an Demons): The lines are fragments of large toughtfull poems, and the books can best be regarded as philosophical treatises
, in which the schematic beings stand as examples and types rather than individuals ..
His people were lonely, sensitive, sentient and painful souls. His thoughts were all about life's basic problems. He had a mysterious and almost ecstatic feeling of life and a justice-seeking idealism, a strong sense of responsibility and compassion for all those who suffered..
in 1904. Astrid had her literary debut with the fairy tale
collection 'Æventyr' in 1901 and later became the author of more than 60 books, while Harald did not live to write more than 10.
and French
..
The Danish writer Tom Kristensen wrote about it:
It is one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Danish literature. It should have gotten him worldwide fame, but earthly success was as little given to him as it was assigned to his hero, the schoolteacher Clemens Bek .
together with Astrid and wrote on a gigantic work in four volumes about industrialism and the conditions of modern life: 'Jærnet' (the iron) 'Guldet' (the gold),'Ilden' (the fire) and 'Ordet' (the word). But he died a few days after the first book in the series was released.
Tom Kristensen wrote:
Harald Kidde took his poetic vocation so serious that he worked himself to death. Of his great works about Värmland appeared only the ecstatic novel Jærnet. Had he completed the work, he might have been recognized by a world that filled with devotion would have fallen to his knees. Now it was only the small Danish community. They love this man, that steep and faithfully stood tall, portraying virtues that are about to go off course. An introvert in an extrovert time, a romantic in a realistic time, a religious skeptic in an equally skeptical irreligious time, a poet who has time to wait for the coming of a mankind that turns the gaze inward again.
Fellow Danish author Kai Hoffmann wrote of Jærnet:
Perhaps never in history a writer sacrificed so immensely to work on a novel as Kidde sacrificed on this last book, 'Jærnet'. Its focused ecstasy got even hardened professors of literature, experienced readers and spruce blockers to gasp for air. 'Helten' is the monumental work in Kiddes production, but in 'Jærnet', which I confess I've never managed to read to the end, Harald was culminating, not as an artist, but through a performance that one might call a genial
fiasco. Strength is weakness and weakness is strength. That has inspired this work of a late-born scion
of a powerfull tribe
. Kidde, now in the home of the poets, was also backward in our present reality - a kind of ambassador from the dead. A solemn singer for all the lonely places and humble minds. When he put the pen away, he burst and died.
Christian Rimestad wrote:
We, who knew Harald Kidde, was deeply astonished, that our friend in all the hours we did not see him, went about as far away from us as he could come, in regions where his character was cowarded and shaken into trances and pain. We could only begin to grasp the nature of it, because when we saw him, we always met the same comfortable face, there was nothing but kindness, gentleness and faithfulness. I remember the few times while he finished Jærnet, when his face was very pale; the mouth's lines when he was silent, was so pressed together as if they had locked themselves to a puzzle, and in his eyes were something troubled and suffering almost as if they had struggled too long to gaze into a secret world, that was closed to our eyes.
in the newspaper 'København', when Harald Kidde died of the Spanish flu
23 November 1918.:
Harald Kidde is dead. The words goes right into the heart with an oppressive and paralyzing grip, just because he who fought honest, looking deeper, and aspiring higher than any other in the generation of Danish writers he belonged to; where the one we most reluctant of all could do without. He who for a long time was one to follow, more and more revealed himself as the future. He was both too young and too good for the early and unflattering death that has taken him away, just as he was approaching the height of his writings, and robbed Danish literature of one of its finest and purest personalities. So young he was, and so much he still had to give, he did not just leave the memory of a loveable personality full of gentle warmth and soulful earnest, but has inscribed his name in Danish literature
with imperishable values and great weight.
Harald Kidde is buried at Bispebjerg
Cemetery in Copenhagen.
Vejle
Vejle is a town in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle and Grejs Rivers and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark...
– 23 November 1918 in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
) was a Danish writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and brother to the politician Aage Kidde. He is best known for the novel Helten (The Hero), which is one of the key novels in Danish literaturev . Kidde died of Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
in 1918. Only 40 years old.
There is an extensive Kidde-archive at Vejle Town Archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
.
Background and education
Harald Kidde was born as the eldest son of countyCounty
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
road inspector in Vejle County
Vejle County
Vejle Amt is a former county on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in southern Denmark. The county was abolished effective January 1, 2007, when it was divided between Region Midtjylland and Region of Southern Denmark...
Chresten Henriksen Kidde (1818–1894) and his wife Inger Dorothea Cornelius (1848-1931). In his childhood he read the Danish author J. P. Jacobsen and German romantic poetry
Romantic poetry
Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
, which profoundly influenced his perspective on the world. He graduated from Vejle Gymnasium in 1898 and took the mandatory preliminary course in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
for entering the university in 1899 after which he began studying theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
. But influenced by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
he could not come to terms with what he saw as the lutheran church's thoroughly inadequte explanations of the inherent contradictions in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Even so a self sacrificing Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
life remained his ideal
Ideal (ethics)
An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. Ideals are particularly important in ethics, as the order in which one places them tends to determine the degree to which one reveals them as real and sincere. It is the application, in ethics, of a universal...
for the rest of his life.
Debut
Soon his name popped up as the signature below articles and short storiesShort Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
in various magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, and he debuted with Sindbilleder (images of the mind) a small collection of atmospheric images and parables in the late summer of 1900. Edvard Brandes
Edvard Brandes
Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes was a Danish politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes and Ernst Brandes. He was a Ph.D. in eastern philology....
, editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
of the leading newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
, called the book "a stylish debut". The young critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
and poet Christian Rimestad admired the book and became a close friend of Harald, but far from all the critics understood him and many called his poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
sickly, effeminate and perverted.
The novel Aage og Else
Two years later came the first volume of the novel Aage and Else with entitled "Døden" (death). The second part entitled "Livet" (Life) came in 1903. The action was based on Harald's own experience of the many deaths in his familiy during his childhoodChildhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
. Three siblings, his best friend and his father died. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Tue experiences a struggle in his mind between the ties to those who are not there anymore, and the ties to the love of his youth Lull, that tries to make him forget the death. The novel is full of many strong memories and beautiful descriptions of nature.
Christian Rimestad wrote about it:
When Aage and Else was such an important work and at the same time one of emotionally richest and one of the most thoughtfull of our novels, with elementary greatness and wondrous empathy, with which he explained the mood and emotions unconscious growth. Hardly ever before has a young man in Denmark raided his spiritual
Spiritual
Spiritual may refer to:*Spirituality, a concern with matters of the spirit*Spiritual , an African American song, usually with a Christian religious text...
development with such a vigilant sagacity.
Philosophy and poetry in Harald Kidde's books
Harald Kidde's blend of soul searching and poetry would be continued through all his upcoming books. With two-year intervals came from this time a number of works, all of which were large and heavy in mood and addressed big issues like life and death, growth and love. It was not books that were read by the masses, but it was books that were not forgotten by those who read them.Danish author and philosopher Villy Sørensen
Villy Sørensen
Villy Sørensen was a Danish short-story writer, philosopher and literary critic of the Modernist tradition. His fiction was heavily influenced by his philosophical ideas, and he has been compared to Franz Kafka in this regard...
writes in Digtere og Dæmoner (Poets an Demons): The lines are fragments of large toughtfull poems, and the books can best be regarded as philosophical treatises
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, in which the schematic beings stand as examples and types rather than individuals ..
His people were lonely, sensitive, sentient and painful souls. His thoughts were all about life's basic problems. He had a mysterious and almost ecstatic feeling of life and a justice-seeking idealism, a strong sense of responsibility and compassion for all those who suffered..
Marriage to Astrid Ehrencron-Kidde
Harald met his future wife the writer Astrid Ehrencron-Müller (1871-1960) during a trip to SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1904. Astrid had her literary debut with the fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collection 'Æventyr' in 1901 and later became the author of more than 60 books, while Harald did not live to write more than 10.
The novel Helten
In 1912 came Harald's best-known book,Helten. It was like all his previous books no success at first (it sold only 190 copies the first year), but then its audience grew slowly bigger and bigger. Today it has been reprinted several times and has been translated unto half a dozen languages - among them GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
..
The Danish writer Tom Kristensen wrote about it:
It is one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Danish literature. It should have gotten him worldwide fame, but earthly success was as little given to him as it was assigned to his hero, the schoolteacher Clemens Bek .
The novel Jærnet
After Helten the literary world heard nothing from Harald in six years while he sat in a small cabin in the woods of VärmlandVärmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...
together with Astrid and wrote on a gigantic work in four volumes about industrialism and the conditions of modern life: 'Jærnet' (the iron) 'Guldet' (the gold),'Ilden' (the fire) and 'Ordet' (the word). But he died a few days after the first book in the series was released.
Tom Kristensen wrote:
Harald Kidde took his poetic vocation so serious that he worked himself to death. Of his great works about Värmland appeared only the ecstatic novel Jærnet. Had he completed the work, he might have been recognized by a world that filled with devotion would have fallen to his knees. Now it was only the small Danish community. They love this man, that steep and faithfully stood tall, portraying virtues that are about to go off course. An introvert in an extrovert time, a romantic in a realistic time, a religious skeptic in an equally skeptical irreligious time, a poet who has time to wait for the coming of a mankind that turns the gaze inward again.
Fellow Danish author Kai Hoffmann wrote of Jærnet:
Perhaps never in history a writer sacrificed so immensely to work on a novel as Kidde sacrificed on this last book, 'Jærnet'. Its focused ecstasy got even hardened professors of literature, experienced readers and spruce blockers to gasp for air. 'Helten' is the monumental work in Kiddes production, but in 'Jærnet', which I confess I've never managed to read to the end, Harald was culminating, not as an artist, but through a performance that one might call a genial
Genial
Genial, Genialis, or Genealis was the Duke of Gascony in the early seventh century. He is attested in the Chronicle of Fredegar....
fiasco. Strength is weakness and weakness is strength. That has inspired this work of a late-born scion
Scion
Scion may refer to:*In kinship, a descendant , a son or daughter*Scion , a detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant which is grafted onto the stock...
of a powerfull tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
. Kidde, now in the home of the poets, was also backward in our present reality - a kind of ambassador from the dead. A solemn singer for all the lonely places and humble minds. When he put the pen away, he burst and died.
Christian Rimestad wrote:
We, who knew Harald Kidde, was deeply astonished, that our friend in all the hours we did not see him, went about as far away from us as he could come, in regions where his character was cowarded and shaken into trances and pain. We could only begin to grasp the nature of it, because when we saw him, we always met the same comfortable face, there was nothing but kindness, gentleness and faithfulness. I remember the few times while he finished Jærnet, when his face was very pale; the mouth's lines when he was silent, was so pressed together as if they had locked themselves to a puzzle, and in his eyes were something troubled and suffering almost as if they had struggled too long to gaze into a secret world, that was closed to our eyes.
Harald Kidde's death
Kidde's colleague and friend Carl Dumreicher wrote the following obituaryObituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
in the newspaper 'København', when Harald Kidde died of the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
23 November 1918.:
Harald Kidde is dead. The words goes right into the heart with an oppressive and paralyzing grip, just because he who fought honest, looking deeper, and aspiring higher than any other in the generation of Danish writers he belonged to; where the one we most reluctant of all could do without. He who for a long time was one to follow, more and more revealed himself as the future. He was both too young and too good for the early and unflattering death that has taken him away, just as he was approaching the height of his writings, and robbed Danish literature of one of its finest and purest personalities. So young he was, and so much he still had to give, he did not just leave the memory of a loveable personality full of gentle warmth and soulful earnest, but has inscribed his name in Danish literature
Danish literature
Danish literature, a subset of Scandinavian literature, stretches back to the Middle Ages. Of special note across the centuries are the historian Saxo Grammaticus, the playwright Ludvig Holberg, the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, and Karen Blixen who...
with imperishable values and great weight.
Harald Kidde is buried at Bispebjerg
Bispebjerg
Bispebjerg is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It lies on the north border of the municipality. It covers an area of 5.39 km², has a population of 40,033, and a population density of 7,389 per km²....
Cemetery in Copenhagen.
Published after his death
- Dinkelsbühl, 1931.
- Under de Blomstrende Frugttræer, 1942.
- Parabler, 1948.
- Krageskrigene, 1953.
External links
- Harald Kidde on Archive of Danish Literature
- Harald Kidde on Den Store Danske
- Harald Kidde on bibliografi.dk
- Photo Series on Harald Kidde
- Website about Harald Kidde