John Christmas Møller

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
John Christmas Møller
German military rule
(Erik Scavenius (last previous office holder))
Succeeded byOle Bjørn Kraft
Personal details
Born(1894-04-03)3 April 1894
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died13 April 1948(1948-04-13) (aged 54)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Political partyConservative People's Party.

Guido Leo John Christmas Møller, usually known as Christmas Møller (3 April 1894 in Copenhagen – 13 April 1948 in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician representing the Conservative People's Party.[1]

Life

Møller was elected as a Conservative member of the

parliament altogether for the same reason. He was then instrumental in founding the underground newspaper
Frit Danmark.

In 1942, Møller fled with his family to England, where he hoped to become part of a Danish

government in exile. However, his most important role in London proved to be as a broadcaster for BBC Radio's Danish language service aimed at occupied Denmark. He spoke out against the Danish government's collaborative stance towards the Germans and encouraged sabotage and other resistance activities
, becoming enormously popular as a result.

On 2 October 1943, an article by Christmas Møller appeared in Frit Danmark which urged all Danes to do what they could to help their Jewish fellow citizens who had gone into hiding from the Nazis' planned roundup.

John Christmas Møller speaking with OSS-officers, October 1945

In April 1945, Møller's son was killed in action while serving in the British Army's Grenadier Guards.

After the war Møller briefly became

foreign minister in the provisional government of May to November 1945. After the election of 1945 he resumed his old role as leader of the Conservative Party. He lost the election in 1947 and then resigned as party leader, partly because of the Southern Schleswig issue. He died the following year, a week after resigning his membership of the Conservative Party.[2]

His

great niece, Pia Christmas-Møller, was a member of parliament
between 1987 and 2011.

References

  1. ^ "Hr. Christmas Moller". The Times. 1948-04-15.
  2. ^ "J.C. Moeller Dies; Led Free Danes, 54". The New York Times. 1948-04-14.

Bibliography

"Hr. Christmas Moller". The Times. 1948-04-15.

  • Harold Flender, Rescue in Denmark, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1963

Further reading

  • Wilhelm Christmas-Møller (1993). Christmas, 1-2. København: Gyldendal.
    ISBN 87-00-14186-0
    .
Political offices
Preceded by
Foreign Minister of Denmark

7 May 1945 – 7 November 1945 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Conservative People's Party
1928–1947 		Succeeded by


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