Anna Catharina Materna (''née'' von der Lühe) (1731–1757) was a Danish actor and playwright. She belonged to the first pioneer-troupe of actors at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

, and later became one of the first female playwrights to have her plays performed there.

Life and career

Materna was the child of the noble but poor Lieutenant Friedrich Siegfried Johann Hans von der Lühe (1705–50) and Mechtilde Siegfriede Jullern (d. 1763), and joined the theatre in 1748 when it advertised for female actors, which were in short supply for the newly opened national stage in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. It was unusual, and considered a great shame, for a member of nobility to perform on stage, and she took the stage name Materna to hide her identity. Anna Catharina Materna was not in reality considered to have much talent as an actor, but she knew how to portray a

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

, and was considered perfect for this on the stage, and she became a

primadonna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

of the theatre in such parts, used much as a stage-ornament, and sometimes considered the first to interpret the

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

role on the Danish stage. She was also the subject of many rumors and intrigues among her colleagues, especially from her great rival Anna Dorothea Lund. She was also regarded and talked about as a

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

, and had a long list of lovers; in 1753, she was offered an allowance to become a

kept woman A mistress is a woman who is in a relatively long-term sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a different woman. Description A mistress is in a long-term relationship with her attached mister, and is often referred to ...

, negotiations being handled by her mother, and in the same year, she retired from the stage. In her farewell letter to

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

, which she sent to him when she left the theatre, she said that her colleagues had never let a moment pass which they did not take to embarrass her; she also wrote about them; "I Know I have been more of a burden for them than an asset", but she also thanked Holberg; "For the always towards me directed kindness", and tells him, that: "I have you to thank for a great deal of my happiness, a memory which will always remain with me." The same year, Holberg wrote a code of behaviour for the theatre and lectured those who mistreated their colleagues. In that year, she instead married the

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

Christian Albrecht von Passow (1732–1777) (but keeping the surname Materna), a marriage that produced a child, which was kept a secret. Passow then left Denmark for

Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranquebar ( da, Trankebar, ), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast. It lies north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kave ...

in India, and, although Materna was meant to follow him, this never came about. Instead, she began a new career as a translator and writer of plays. She became one of the first writers in Europe to use the old Nordic gods of her own country, rather than the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

gods and

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

es, in her plays; she stated that she did not see the reason to use Roman or Greek gods, when Denmark had so many of their own. Three of her plays were performed on the stage at the Royal Danish Theatre; she was one of the first native female writers to have her plays performed there.Biographical detail
''KVInfo'' website. Retrieved 5 January 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Materna, Anna Catharina 1731 births 18th-century Danish actresses Danish courtesans 18th-century Danish translators Danish stage actresses 1757 deaths Danish nobility Danish women dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Danish women writers