Thorkild Hansen (9 January 1927 – 4 February 1989) was a Danish novelist most noted for his
historical fiction.
He is popularly known for his trilogy of novels about the Danish slave trade which is composed of ''
Coast of Slaves'' (1967), ''
Ships of Slaves'' (1968), and ''
Islands of Slaves'' (1970; for which he received the
Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1971).
Biography
Hansen was born at
Ordrup in
Gentofte Municipality, Denmark. He attended
Holte Gymnasium and from 1945–47 studied literature at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
. In 1947, he moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he wrote dispatches for the Copenhagen-based ''
Ekstra Bladet''. After returning to Denmark in 1952, he devoted his efforts to a series of novels. Several featured aspects of the
Danish era of imperialism. ''Det Lykkelige Arabien: En Dansk Ekspedition'' (1962) covered the
Danish Arabia expedition (1761–67)
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark)
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, ...
led by
Carsten Niebuhr
Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Cuxhaven, Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, Cartography, cartographer, and Geographical exploration, explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He ...
. His book ''Jens Munk'' (1965) was about Danish-Norwegian sea captain
Jens Munk and his attempt to locate the
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
.
He died prematurely during a voyage in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
.
Awards
*
Søren Gyldendal Prize (1963)
*
De Gyldne Laurbær (1966)
*
Nordic Council Literature Prize (1971)
Selected works
*''Resten er Stilhed'' (1953)
* ''Arabia Felix: The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767'' (''Det Lykkelige Arabien: En Dansk Ekspedition, 1761-67 '', 1962)
* ''
Coast of Slaves'' (''Slavernes kyst'', 1967)
* ''
Ships of Slaves'' (''Slavernes skibe'', 1968)
* ''The Way to Hudson Bay: The Life and Times of Jens Munk''
* ''
Islands of Slaves'' (''Slavernes øer'', 1970)
* ''Processen mod Hamsun'', (1978)
[Apparently never translated into English; adapted as a film (1996) with ]Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...
as Knut Hamsun
References
External links
Thorkild Hansen Gyldendal
1927 births
1989 deaths
People from Gentofte Municipality
University of Copenhagen alumni
Danish male novelists
20th-century Danish memoirists
Knut Hamsun researchers
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
20th-century Danish novelists
{{Denmark-writer-stub