Astrid Grethe Grouleff Heltberg (27 May 1911 – 1996) 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 ance ...

writer. The daughter of J C Agerskov and Eva Grouleff, she was born Astrid Grethe Agerskov in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

and graduated from Horsens Statsskole in 1929. From 1930 to 1940, she worked as a stenographer at the

Rigsdagen Rigsdagen () was the name of the national legislature of Denmark from 1849 to 1953. ''Rigsdagen'' was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the ...

. In 1942, she published a collection of poetry ''Portræt af en pige''. Besides writing essays, memoirs, novels, short stories and children's books, she also published articles in newspapers, magazines and journals. From 1957 to 1972, she was a member of , the Danish writers' association. She won a number of awards over the years as well as receiving funding from the

Statens Kunstfond The Danish Arts Foundation (Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council n ...

. She was also awarded the

Tagea Brandts Rejselegat The Tagea Brandts ''Rejselegat'' (Travel Scholarship) is a Danish award to women who have made a significant contribution in science, literature or art. The grant, which is given without application, was created and endowed by Danish industrialist ...

(Travel Scholarship) in 1973. In 1934, she married Niels Heltberg. Her daughter

Bettina Bettina is a female name predominantly found in the Italian and German languages. This name has various interpreted meanings and origins. In Italian, Bettina originated as a diminutive of the names Elisabetta and Benedetta. Benedetta is the Ital ...

became a writer and actor.

Selected works

Source: * ''Testamente'', poetry (1945) * ''Kinesisk lak'', poetry (1948) * ''Pige fra provinsen'' (1969) * ''En jomfru fra Jylland'' (1969) * ''Vi'' (1971) * ''En gnist af glæde'', memoir (1975) * ''Alle mine søstre'', poetry (1976)

References

1911 births 1996 deaths Danish women poets Danish women novelists Danish women short story writers People from Horsens {{Denmark-writer-stub