Emma Gad (21 January 1852 - 8 January 1921), born Emma Halkier, was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

writer and

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

who wrote plays and books that were often

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

. Although she was a prolific writer, many of her works fell into obscurity after her death. One work that remained popular was ''Takt og Tone'', a book of etiquette she wrote in old age. She received a gold

Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit: * Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) * Medal of Merit (Denmark) * Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman * Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany) * Medal o ...

in 1905. Today her plays are preserved in Denmark's Royal Library.

Biography

Gad grew up in a relatively affluent home 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 ...

. Her father and uncle were the owners of the trading house G. Halkier & Co. She received a good education for a woman at the time and married Nicolas Urban Gad, a

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, in 1872. They had two sons: Henry and Peter Urban Gad, who later became a filmmaker. She was a member of many trade unions and women's societies in Copenhagen, and her home was an important meeting place for intellectuals in Denmark at the turn of the century. In 1886 she premiered as a dramatist 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 ...

's Ny Scene. In the mid-1890s, she was the driving force behind the successful

1895 Copenhagen Women's Exhibition The Women's Exhibition from the Past and Present ( da, Kvindernes Udstilling fra Fortid og Nutid) held in Copenhagen in 1895 was an art and culture exhibition for women from the Nordic countries. Inspired by the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, it ...

. In 1898 she co-founded the Women's Trade and Clerical Association, which was the first professional organization of women in the office.

''Etiquette - About Dealing with People''

Gad's book ''Etiquette - About Dealing with People'' (Danish: ''Takt og Tone - Om Omgang med Mennesker'') was published in 1918. Her oft-repeated point is that when visitation is between considerate people then "etiquette" is not necessary. It is the indifferent, selfish, or directly ruthless people that create the need for a formal etiquette.

Legacy and memorials

Emma Gads Vej, a street in

Ørestad Ørestad () is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. The area was developed using the new town concept, closely linked with the M1 line of the Copenhagen Metro. Economically, income for the plan would be generate ...

, Copenhagen, is named after her. On 21 January 2013 Google made a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...

for Emma Gad's 161st birthday, in honor of her book of etiquette.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gad, Emma 1852 births 1921 deaths Danish women novelists 20th-century Danish novelists Danish satirists 19th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights Danish women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights Burials at Holmen Cemetery Politiken people 20th-century Danish women writers 19th-century Danish women writers Women satirists