Personside - 115

Hans barndom var usædvanlig traumatisk. Forældrene blev skilt kort efter han var født, og da moderen blev indlagt på statshospitalet kom han først på børnehjem, siden i pleje hos sin morbror og senere på Birkerød kostskole. Hans far var nazisympatisør og blev likvideret af modstandsbevægelsen. Leif Panduro var med i modstandsbevægelsen i sidste øjeblik og blev på selve befrielsesdagen ramt i maven af et vådeskud.

Bestod realeksamen i 1939 og adgangseksamen til Tandlægehøjskolen i 1942, blev uddannet som tandlæge i 1947, bosatte sig i Sverige 1949-56, var i årene 1956-62 skoletandlæge i Esbjerg og fra 1965 arbejdede han så udelukkende som forfatter og journalist. Han begyndte som journalist ved dagbladet Vestkysten - mens han arbejdede som 'skrivende tandlæge' i Esbjerg - senere blev han ansat ved Politiken, hvor han i en årrække var TV-anmelder. Senere droppede han TV-anmelderiet og startede en fast ugentlig spalte 'Panduro mener'.

Han led af svære angstneuroser og gik i psykoanalyse det meste af sit voksne liv. Denne baggrund præger meget hans skønlitterære indsats. Han brugte sin egen skriveproces som terapi. Det var derfor han hele tiden skrev.

Hvem er det egentlig, der er gal - den gale eller den normale - spørger han samstemmende med en skikkelse som anti-psykiatriens R. D. Laing. Er sygdommen ikke et sundhedstegn? Måske det netop er fra den 'syge', helbredelsen kan komme'.

Det er et helt igennem dansk forfatterskab, hvert et ord er dansk, hver en vittighed og hver en nervøs hverdagstrækning.

Hovedtemaer: modsætningsforholdet mellem normalitet og galskab

'Den nat drømde Jacob to drømme. Den første kendte han igen. Han drømte Adrian drunknede ham i sin swimmingpool. I den anden elskede Jacob med pigen. Så dukkede Adrian pludselig op og ville have sin urin undersøgt. Derefter skete der en forverksling mellem pigen of Adrian. Jacob var meget forvirret da han vågnade.' (from Den ubetænksomme elsker, 1973)

Panduro made his literary debut with Historien om Ambrosius (1956), a radio play. His first novel, Av, min guldtand (1957), was partly autobiographical. Rend mig i traditionerne (1958, Kick Me in the Traditions), a story about the difficulties of puberty, written in the spirit of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, which had appeared seven years earlier. The protagonist in the humorous novel was a young boy who escapes from school. He is confined in a mental hospital due to his unyielding attitude towards the norms of society - he refuses to become 'normalized.'

'Plan. Der er Brøns' standardudtryck. Se at få plan over jeres tilværelse, si'r han altid. Mennesket adskiller sig fra dyrene derved, at det kan planlægge. Det lyder da af noget!' (from Rend mig i traditionerne, 1958)

De uanstændige (1960) was set during the years of German occupation of Denmark in World War II. In Øgledage (1961, saurian days), a monologue novel, Panduro used modernistic narrative technique. It is considered his most ambitious novel and again explored the psychological problems of youth. Saurians in the story represent repressed elements in society and in the individual. Panduro's later novels dealt with demands of conformity in the lives of middle-aged heroes. His protagonists have difficulties with their commitments, the outside world, and the younger generation, and solve their personal crisis in different ways. Martin Fern, a forty-year-old man, loses his memory in Fern fra Danmark (1963) and refuses to accept the role he is offered. In Fejltagelsen (1964) the paranoid Marius Berg developes a severe hypochondria. Healthy friend Hilmer is too normal. In Den gale mand Edvard Morner, a bank manager, rejects all human emotions. Daniel from Daniels anden verden (1970) finds salvation in the meeting with the young, schizophrenic Laila.

In the 1970s Panduro became one of the most successful Scandinavian dramatists. His central themes were the defects of the modern welfare state and the conflict between normal and abnormal. However, Panduro's view was not political - his dialogue suggested rather than clearly stated arguments. As a social critic Panduro often taunted norms generally shared by the audience. Farvel, Thomas (1968) was a story of a man who loses his own identity when he is abandoned by his wife. In Adams verden (1973) and Louises hus (1974) he attacked bourgeoisie world - they are considered among the best Scandinavian television dramas in the 1970s. Rundt om Selma (1971) was Panduro's most pessimistic play and depicted the failure of the whole middle-class way of life. Panduro's only stage plays were produced in the early 1960s. Kufferten (The Suitcase) was influenced by Samuel Beckett and Kannibaler i Kælderen (Cannibals in the Basement) by Eugène Ionesco.