Menno ter Braak

From Philosopedia

Menno ter Braak (26 January 1902 - 14 May 1940)

Ter Braak, a modernist author, was born in Eibergen and was raised in the Dutch town of Tiel. At the University of Amsterdam, he majored in Dutch and History.

Biography by Leon Hanssen

Menno ter Braak was one of the leading intellectuals of his time. By his own essay-writing and the content he was able to promote, his role as critic in the field of literature, intellectual life, film and theater, Ter Braak became a prominent cultural figure in the Netherlands. He not only was co-founder and editor of the important literary magazine in the thirties, Forum (1932-1935) but also was co-founder and board member of the main intellectual groups outside the political party being given to account for and opposition offered to the extremist spirit: the Committee of Vigilance of Anti-Nazi intellectuals (1936-1939).

Ter Braak had trained as a historian, graduated cum laude in 1928 at Amsterdam on a thesis about the medieval German Emperor Otto III. During his studies from 1924 to 1925 he was editor of Propria Cures, a student magazine. Together with the filmmaker Joris Ivens and the critics H. Scholte and L. J. West, he founded in 1927 the Dutch Film League, which defended film as an independent art expression.

Ter Braak was primarily known for The Carnival of Citizens (1930), Farewell to Reverend Country (1931), Démasqué of Beauty (1932), Politician Without a Party (1934), and Of Old and New Christians (1937).

His reputation grew as he became the art critic of Het Vaderland (The Fatherland), a position he held until his death.

An outspoken atheist who was influenced by ideas of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, he chastised those with "higher" and "spiritual values," being against "nebulous collectivisms" such as liberal Humanism, Marxism, Fascism, and Catholicism.

When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands on 14 May 1940, he unsuccessively attempted to flee to England. He then ended his life by using a sedative combined with an injection (given to him by his brother) of poison. He died on the day the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam, his former hometown.