Kaj Harald Leininger Munk (mostly referred to as Kaj Munk) (January 13, 1898 - January 4, 1944) was a Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor.
He was born Kaj Harald Leininger Petersen at Lolland, Denmark. He was raised by a family called Munk after the death of his parents.
After a brief period of Nazi admiration around 1935 he turned into a strong opponent. His plays Han sidder ved Smeltediglen ("He sits by the smelting pot") and Niels Ebbesen were direct attacks on Nazism. He was arrested and subsequently assassinated by the Gestapo on January 4, 1944 at Hørbylunde near Silkeborg.
His plays, many of which have been performed at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, and elsewhere, include:
Pilatus (1917. Published 1937),
Ordet (1925),
Kaerligheid (1926),
En Idealist (1928),
I Brændingen (1929),
Kardinalen og Kongen (1929),
Cant (1931),
De Udvalgte (1933),
Sejren (1936),
Han sidder ved Smeltediglen (1938),
Egelykke (1940),
Niels Ebbesen (1942),
Før Cannae (1943).
The play Ordet (tr. The Word) was filmed in black and white by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
Visit http://www.kajmunk.dk for further information
