Halfdan Wedel Rasmussen (29 January 1915 inCopenhagen – 2 March 2002) was aDanish poet. He was known for hisliterary nonsense verse for children and his serious adult writings about social issues and human rights. He was awarded with theMinistry of Culture's children book prize (Kulturministeriets Børnebogspris) in 1965.

Rasmussen was aresistance fighter during theGerman occupation. In the summer of 1942 he rented a cottage atEngestofte from futureDanish Resistance heroMonica Wichfeld, sharing it with journalist Hilmar Wulff and his new wife, teacher Karen Inga Petersen.^[1]

In 1943 he married writerEster Nagel. They divorced in 1973. They had two children, actress Iben Nagel Rasmussen (1945) and singer-songwriter Tom Nagel Rasmussen (1946).

He became very well known and respected as a poet, nearly becoming a national poet of Denmark.

One of his poems,Ikke Bødlen, was featured as one of the best poems on Human Rights on a 1979 book published byAmnesty International Denmark, and would be later translated into the first verse ofRoger Waters' songEach Small Candle.^[2]

Rasmussen joined theanarcho-syndicalist movement at an early age, and from his 20s and on-wards he contributed to the syndicalist weekly Arbejdet ("Work"). In the early 60s, he helped edit and publish the memoirs of revolutionary syndicalistChristian Christensen. Later on Rasmussen was also active in the Danish anti-nuclear movement,the campaigns against EU membership, and inAmnesty International.^[3]

• Vorherres Rosa, short story inDet første møde
• Soldat eller menneske (1941)
• Kejser Næsegrus og Kæmpesmeden: eventyr (1943)
• Det lukkede ansigt (1943)
• Solen, maanen og stjernerne: eventyr (1943)
• Digte under besættelsen (1945 )
• Længsel, poems inDer brænder en ild (1945)
• Min barndom var en by (1945)
• Korte skygger (1946)
• De afsindige (1948)
• Fem små troldebørn, (together withIb Spang Olsen, 1948)
• Gaden (1948)
• På knæ for livet (1948)
• Den som har set september (1949)
• Norske nutidsdigte: En antologi af ung lyrik (1949)
• Tullerulle tappenstreg spiste gummibolde (1949)
• Aftenland (1950)
• Lange Peter Madsen (1950)
• Forventning (1951)
• Den lille frække Frederik og andre børnerim (1951)
• Tosserier: 1. samling (1951)
• Tosserier: 2. samling (1952)
• Digte i udvalg (1953)
• Tosserier: 3. samling (1953)
• Skoven (together withErnst Clausen, 1954)
• Tosserier: 4. samling (1954)
• Hemmeligt forår (1955)
• Kasper Himmelspjæt (1955)
• Tosserier: 5. samling (1955)
• I mørket: et digt (1956)
• Tosserier: 6. samling (1956)
• Himpegimpe og andre børnerim (1957)
• Torso: Digte og tegninger fra Grækenland (Torso: Poems and drawings from Greece) (1957)
• Tosserier: 7. samling (1957)
• Lyriske installationer (1958)
• Noget om sundbusser: Et tosseri (1959)
• Pumpegris og andre børnerim (1959)
• Digte (Poems) (1960)
• Tosserier i udvalg (1960)
• Lokumsdigte (1961)
• Stilheden: Skitser fra Grønland (1962)
• Med solen i ryggen (together withIvan Malinovski,Erik Stinus and others 1963)
• Børnerim (collection ofTullerulle Tappenstreg,Kasper Himmelspjæt,Himpegimpe andPumpegris, 1964)
• Hilsen til Halfdan (1965)
• Julekalender for voksne (1965)
• Gi’ den en tand til! (short story inBuket for bilister: bundet af Erik Seidenfaden, 1965)
• Halfdans ABC (1967)
• Jacob i Tivoli (1967)
• Julemandens rejse (music bySven Gyldmark, 1967)
• Mørke over Akropolis (together with Ivan Malinovski and Erik Stinus, 1967)
• Den sommer andHjemad (short stories inReflekslys: læsestykker af kendte danske forfattere, 1967)
• Hokus Pokus og andre børnerim (together with Ib Spang Olsen, 1969)
• Stigen (together withKaj Matthiessen, 1969)
• Mis Ege på eventyr (1970)
• 8 digte om snaps (1970)
• Noget om: tosserier af Halfdan Rasmussen med musik af Mogens Jermiin Nissen (1972)
• Noget om Nanette (together withIb Spang Olsen, 1972)
• Halfdanes nonsense and nursery rhymes (1973)
• Visse vasse viser (melody byHans Dalgaard, 1973)
• Corsareu: piratudgave (1975)
• Og det var det (together with Kaj Matthiessen, 1977)
• Klatteradat (together withKaj Matthiessen, 1978)
• Så du røgen? (together with Kaj Matthiessen, 1978)
• Julekalender for børn (1984)
• 365 godnatsange – rim og remser (together withBenny Andersen and others, 1984)
• Fremtiden er forbi (together with Kaj Matthiessen, 1985)
• Tante Andante (1985)
• Efter Bikini?, (short story inLær om lyrik, 1985)
• Jeg fandt en sang på vejen: 23 digte, 1986)
• Onkel Karfunkel (together withIb Spang Olsen, 1988)
• Noget om helte (short story inDansk i sjette: grundbog, 1989)
• Regnens harpe: digte og grafik fra Irland (together with Ib Spang Olsen, 1990)
• Halfdan i bakspejlet (1991)
• Bare en regnvejrsaften (short stories inDansk med overblik: litteratur for folkeskolens ældste klasser, 1993)
• Halfdan rundt: til Halfdan Rasmussen på 80 årsdagen den 29. januar 1995 (1995)
• Hr. Olsen ogPeter Lohengrin (poems inEt digt om dagen, 1995)
• Mariehønen Evigglad: rim for børn og barnlige sjæle (1996)
• Halvvejs til Halfdan (CD-book with 30 participating actors, writers etc. in 4 generations, published by P.C. Teilmann and Hans Sydow) (2002)
• Faxerier fra Halfdan Rasmussen til Johannes Møllehave (2002)
• 24 tosserier + 24. december (2002)
• Halfdans digte (2004)
• Rapanden Rasmus fromRinkenæs Sogn.

• 1958 –De Gyldne Laurbær forTorso
• 1965 –Ministry of Culture's children book prize (Kulturministeriets Børnebogspris)
• 1978 – Herman Bangs Mindelegat
• 1988 –Grand Prize of the Danish Academy (Det Danske Akademis Store Pris)

• Ikke Bødlen

• Who is Who - The story behindEach Small Candle.

• 1915 births
• 2002 deaths
• Danish male poets
• Danish male short story writers
• Danish resistance members
• Recipients of the Grand Prize of the Danish Academy
• 20th-century Danish poets
• 20th-century Danish short story writers
• Anarcho-syndicalists
• Danish anarchists
• Danish children's poets
• Humorous poets
• 20th-century Danish male writers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata