Clara Elisabeth Andersen (13 May 1826 – 28 August 1895) was a Danish dramatist and novelist. Thanks to the many plays she wrote, she became the most successful female Danish playwright of the 19th century. Her ''Rosa og Rosita'' (1862) was performed more than a hundred times 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 ...
. She remained unknown to the general public during her lifetime as her plays were written anonymously and her novels and short stories were published under the pen-name Paul Winther.
Biography
Born 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 ...
on 13 May 1826, Clara Elisabeth Andersen was the daughter of the musician Casper Heinrich Bernhard Andersen, who played the French horn at the
Royal Theatre, and the actress
Birgitte Andersen, who performed there.
[
Andersen began writing plays while still young. In 1848, she sent ''En Evadatter'' to the poet ]Henrik Hertz
Henrik Hertz (25 August 1797 – 25 February 1870) was a Danish poet.
Biography
He was born of Jewish parents in Copenhagen. In 1817 he was sent to the university. His father died in his infancy, and the family property was destroyed in the b ...
who encouraged her to continue. She became acquainted with the dramatist Frederik Høedt who had the play performed at the Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
in 1855. It became one of the most popular plays written by a woman. Based on how a performance of ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' was perceived by London aristocrats, it was well received by the critics. Her most successful play, ''Rosa og Rosita'', was staged at the Royal Theatre in 1862 but was also performed in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Breslau and Kristiania
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.[ Most of her theatrical works were staged at the Royal Theatre where they were well received.][
Adopting the pen-name Paul Winther, she published a collection of short stories titled ''Noveller'' in 1855 as well as the novel ''Kastaniebaandet'' (English: ''The Chestnut Band'') in 1861.][
]
Works
* ''En Evadatter'' (1855)
* ''Noveller'' (1855)
* ''En Velgørers Testamente'' (1858)
* ''Kastaniebaandet'' (1861)
* ''Rosa og Rosita'' (1862)
* ''En Teaterhistorie under Ludvig den XIV'' (1862)
* ''En nyttig Onkel'' (1870)
* ''Grøns Fødselsdag'' (1870)
* ''De lykkeligste Børn'' (1871)
* ''Sandt og usandt'' (1873)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Clara
1826 births
1895 deaths
19th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Danish novelists
19th-century Danish women writers
Danish women novelists
Writers from Copenhagen
Danish women dramatists and playwrights