Jóhanna Maria Skylv Hansen (February 17, 1877 – February 2, 1974) was a Faroese writer, the first woman from the Faroe Islands to have her work published.

Biography

The daughter of Thomas Joensen and Pouline Marie Nolsøe, she was born Jóhanna Maria Joensen in

Nólsoy Nólsoy (previously also ''Nölsoy''; da, Nolsø; non, Norsey) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4 km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy. Description Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjark ...

and grew up there. She was employed as a maid and, in 1896, she moved with her employer to

Hesselø Hesselø is a small island of Denmark, belonging to Halsnæs Municipality, in Region Hovedstaden. The island is situated in the Kattegat, about 25 nautical miles east of Grenaa on Jutland and 15 nautical miles northwest of Zealand Sjælland, it has ...

in Denmark. In 1897, she married Anders Hansen. The couple moved to

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 ...

in 1902. They lived there until 1912, when they moved to the Faroe Islands, where her husband looked after various

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

s in isolated locations on the islands. In 1952, they moved to

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

. Hansen and her husband had eight children. After her children were older, Hansen began writing. At first, she translated hymns and poetry for publication, including a poem by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

. In 1950, she published her first book ''Gamla götur'', a collection of stories based on her childhood memories and stories collected from older people. She published three more volumes of ''Gamlar gøtur'' in 1967, 1970 and 1973. She received the

Faroese Literature Prize The Faroese Literature Prize, also known as the Mentanarvirðisløn M. A. Jacobsens (M. A. Jacobsen's Cultural Award), is a prize for Faroese literature that was begun by the Tórshavnar kommuna (Tórshavn City Council) in 1958. Its winners includ ...

in 1967. Hansen died in Tórshavn at the age of 96. In 1988, actor Laura Joensen with

Malan Marnersdóttir Malan Marnersdóttir (born January 25, 1952) is a Faroese academic and non-fiction writer. Biography The daughter of Doctor Marner Andreas Simonsen and Anna Kristina Godtfred, she was born in Klaksvík and grew up in various places in the Faroe Is ...

wrote a play ''Logi, logi eldur mín'' about Hansen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Johanna Maria Skylv 1877 births 1974 deaths Faroese women writers