Fred Kaan

Short Name: Fred Kaan
Full Name: Kaan, Fred
Birth Year: 1929
Death Year: 2009

Fred Kaan was born in July 1929 in Haarlem, Netherlands. He was a hymn writer and translator whose works often addressed issues of peace and justice. Baptized in St. Bavo Cathedral, he was raised in a family that did not attend church regularly. During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, he witnessed the deaths of three grandparents from starvation and his parents’ involvement in the resistance movement, including taking in refugees. Kaan became a pacifist and began attending church in his teenage years.

He developed an interest in British Congregationalism through a friendship and attended Western College, Bristol. Kaan was ordained in 1955 at Windsor Road Congregational Church, Barry, Glamorgan. In 1963, he became minister of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth, where he began composing hymns. The first edition of Pilgrim Praise was published in 1968, with second and third editions in 1972 and 1975. He continued writing hymns and translations throughout his life.

Fred Kaan died in 2009. His hymns remain in use in modern hymnals and are noted for their social and theological relevance.