Henri Nathansen
Encyclopedia
Henri Nathansen was a Danish writer and stage director, today best known for the play Inside the Walls .
Nathansen grew up in a merchant family in Copenhagen
. Abandoning a legal career, he turned to writing and later directing. His best known work, Inside the Walls, premiered in 1912 at the Royal Danish Theatre
, directed by the author. The play centers around a wealthy, loving, but conservative Jewish family whose only daughter breaks away from tradition by attending lectures at the university and secretly becoming engaged to her teacher, a gentile
. Still frequently performed, the play was included in the official Canon of Danish Culture in 2006.
Nathansen's 1932 novel Mendel Philipsen and Son, about a Jewish woman who falls in love with a gentile painter but instead enters into a loveless marriage with her Jewish cousin, was adapted for the 1992 movie Sofie.
Late in his career, Nathansen wrote a number of biographies, notably one of Georg Brandes
(1929).
In October 1943, when the Nazis attempted to round up the Danish Jews, Nathansen fled to Sweden
. Four months later, he took his own life.
Nathansen grew up in a merchant family 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...
. Abandoning a legal career, he turned to writing and later directing. His best known work, Inside the Walls, premiered in 1912 at the Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
, directed by the author. The play centers around a wealthy, loving, but conservative Jewish family whose only daughter breaks away from tradition by attending lectures at the university and secretly becoming engaged to her teacher, a gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
. Still frequently performed, the play was included in the official Canon of Danish Culture in 2006.
Nathansen's 1932 novel Mendel Philipsen and Son, about a Jewish woman who falls in love with a gentile painter but instead enters into a loveless marriage with her Jewish cousin, was adapted for the 1992 movie Sofie.
Late in his career, Nathansen wrote a number of biographies, notably one of Georg Brandes
Georg Brandes
Georg Morris Cohen Brandes was a Danish critic and scholar who had great influence on Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Breakthrough" of Scandinavian culture...
(1929).
In October 1943, when the Nazis attempted to round up the Danish Jews, Nathansen fled to Sweden
Rescue of the Danish Jews
The rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. On October 1st 1943 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered Danish Jews to be arrested and deported...
. Four months later, he took his own life.