Anne Wolden-Ræthinge, known by the pseudonym Ninka, (11 July 1929 – 22 April 2016) was a Danish broadcast and newspaper journalist, biographer and writer who specialised in interviews with high-profile figures. She first worked at the Copenhagen daily conservative newspaper ''

Nationaltidende ''Nationaltidende'' was a Danish daily newspaper published from 18 March 1876 to 3 September 1961 by De Ferslewske Blade in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Nationaltidende'' was established by Jean Christian Ferslew in March 1876. It ...

'' in 1951 and authored articles about women's issues at ' from 1954 to 1961 with contributions to '' Alt for Damerne''. Wolden-Ræthinge worked for the Sunday edition of the newspaper ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

'' from 1961, covering social issues and then became the publication's leading interviewer for its feature articles. She was a 1974 recipient of the

Cavling Prize The Cavling Prize is a prestigious Danish journalist award. It is awarded annually in January to "a journalist or a group of journalists who have shown initiative and talent in the past year." It is generally considered the most prestigious priz ...

and was made a

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

in 1991.

Early life

Wolden-Ræthinge was born in Gråsten in South Jutland on 11 July 1929. She was the daughter of the detective Hans Povl Emil Ræthinge and the customs administrator Ellen Margrethe Wolden. Wolden-Ræthinge had two younger siblings and was brought up in Gråsten with a politically active mother and a local journalist. She attended , where she gave brief interviews to the local social democratic newspaper ''Sønderjyden'' in her final years there. Wolden-Ræthinge graduated from the school in 1946 and joined the staff of ''Sønderjyden'' as a trainee journalist the following year. She ventured to the United States and studied journalism at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater under the Marie Illum Grant and the Carlsberg Foundation Travel Grant for two-and-a-half-years.

Career

Following her return to Denmark, Wolden-Ræthinge gained employment at the Copenhagen daily conservative newspaper ''

'' in 1951. In 1954, she was employed by ' after the journalist , the newspaper's female pages editor, introduced Wolden-Ræthinge to the publication. Wolden-Ræthinge adopted the pseudonym Ninka after the busy and organised

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

(Ninka Ninus) in the children's story series "

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

" by

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

. She had been asked by the newspaper's typographers to adopt a short pseudonym for easier printing in the lead of the time. Wolden-Ræthinge primarily authored articles about women's issues. She did some Danish radio broadcasts with the writer from 1954 to 1958 and was a contributor to '' Alt for Damerne''. After ''Dagens Nyheder'' closed in September 1961, Wolden-Ræthinge transferred to the daily newspaper ''

'' by its Sunday editor Paul Hammerich. Her first years at the publication saw her cover social issues, which she did by conducting multiple interviews with an emphasis on human aspects. Wolden-Ræthinge became the publication's leading interviewer for its feature articles on its Sunday edition, and her first interview was with her former editor-in-chief Jens Søltoft-Jensen. She came into close contact with many personalities from the worlds of architecture, literature, music, politics, theatre, revues and visual arts, and conducted many interviews with them by focusing on "the psychological empathy based on sympathy, prefers more than she provokes or seeks to hand over." Wolden-Ræthinge specialised in the personal interview that aims "to paint a topical, possibly situational, portrait of the interviewee" and focus primarily on the interviewees views, assessments and inner life in lieu of critical analysis or professional aspects from their working life. She interviewed notable world figures such as

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

and Olof Palme as well as Danish personalities including Carl Theodor Dreyer, Osvald Helmuth,

Jens Otto Krag Jens Otto Krag (; 15 September 1914 – 22 June 1978) was a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1972, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1962 to 1972. He was president of the Nord ...

, Per Kirkeby and

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th ...

. Wolden-Ræthinge portrayed members of the Danish Royal Family in books and on television. She was the author of books based on her interviews, including ''udgivet 33 portrætter'' (1969), ''Den vanskelige død'' (1974), ''Ni Ninka interviews fra Amalienborg til Christiania'' (1977), ''Pas på! Dig og trafikken'' (1978), ''Nye Ninka interviews'' (1980), ''Dialog mellem to generatione'' (1988), ''Dronning i Danmark. Margrethe den anden fortæller om sit liv'' (1989), ''og En familie og dens dronning'' (1996), ''29 danske politikere. Ninka interviews gennem 40 år'' (2001), ''Rejse i livet – kronrins Frederik fortæller til Ninka'' (2002), ''Om lidt er vi borte. Modstandsbevægelsens topfolk fortæller til Ninka'' (2005) and ''Helle – i samtaler med Ninka'' (2011).

Personal life

Wolden-Ræthinge had one child, and was not married. She died on 22 April 2016.

Awards

In 1974, Wolden-Ræthinge was awarded the

to honor her "as an interviewer and also for giving readers a new insight into the everyday world in which we live." That same year, she was the recipient of the and the Ebbe Muncks Honorary Award in 1992. Wolden-Ræthinge was appointed

in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolden-Ræthinge, Anne 1929 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Danish women writers 21st-century Danish women writers 20th-century Danish biographers 21st-century Danish biographers 20th-century Danish journalists 21st-century Danish journalists Danish women journalists Women biographers Radio reporters and correspondents Politiken writers People from Sønderborg Municipality Oklahoma State University alumni Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog