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Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler, duchess of Cajanello (1 October 184921 October 1892), was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
author.
Biography
She was the daughter of the school principal John Olof Leffler and Gustava Wilhelmina Mittag. Her brother was noted mathematician
Gösta Mittag-Leffler. Leffler was initially educated privately and then a student at the ''
Wallinska skolan
Wallinska skolan (Wallin School) or Wallinska flickskolan (Wallin Girls' School), was a girls' school in Stockholm, Sweden. Active from 1831 to 1939, it was one of the first five schools in Sweden to offer serious academic education and seconda ...
'' from the age of thirteen, at that time perhaps the most progressive school open to females in Stockholm.
Her first volume of stories appeared in 1869, but the first to which she attached her name was ("From Life," 1882), a series of realistic sketches of the upper circles of Swedish society, followed, by three other collections with the same title. Her earliest plays, ("The Actress," 1873), and its successors, were produced anonymously in
Stockholm, but in 1883 her reputation was established by the success of ("True Women") and ("An Angel of Deliverance"). is directed against false femininity, and was well received in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as well as in Sweden.
[ This cites ]Ellen Key
Ellen Karolina Sofia Key (; 11 December 1849 – 25 April 1926) was a Swedish difference feminist writer on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education and was an important figure in the Modern Breakthrough movement. She was ...
, ''Anne Charlotte Leffler'' (Stockholm, 1893).
Leffler had married G. Edgren in 1872, but about 1884 she was separated from her husband, who did not share her advanced views. She spent some time in England, and in 1885 produced her ("How one does good"), followed in 1888 by ("The Struggle for Happiness"), with which she was helped by
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (russian: link=no, Софья Васильевна Ковалевская), born Korvin-Krukovskaya ( – 10 February 1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differen ...
. Another volume of the series appeared in 1889, and ("Domestic Happiness," 1891) was produced in the year after her second marriage (to the Italian mathematician,
Pasquale del Pezzo, duke of Cajanello).
She was also active within the women's movement. Leffler was an early member of the women's association
Nya Idun
Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings".
There was a ...
, founded in 1885, and was one of its committee members. At its first meeting, she spoke in favour of the
Victorian dress reform
Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...
and raised the issue of dress reform in Sweden, which resulted in the foundation of the
Swedish Dress Reform Association
Swedish Dress Reform Association (Swedish: ) was a Swedish women's association, active from 1886 to 1903.Jerremalm, Sanna (2010). Svenska reformdräkter : kvinnokläder för en ny tid. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, Textilvetenskap. Libris 1394187 ...
.
Her dramatic method forms a connecting link between
Ibsen and
Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
, and its masculine directness, freedom from prejudice and frankness won her work great esteem in Sweden. Her last book was a biography (1892) of her friend
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (russian: link=no, Софья Васильевна Ковалевская), born Korvin-Krukovskaya ( – 10 February 1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differen ...
, by way of introduction to Sonya's autobiography. An English translation (1895) by
Annie de Furuhjelm and
A. M. Clive Bayley contains a biographical note on Fräu Edgren-Leffler by
Lily Wolffsohn
''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...
, based on private sources.
Leffler died in 1892 of complications from
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...
in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Rosenlarv Förlag website (Swedish)
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Notes
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leffler, Anne Charlotte
1849 births
1892 deaths
Swedish women dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Swedish dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Swedish women writers
Socialist feminists
Members of Nya Idun