Marie Louise Thomsen née Molbech (1823–1907) was a pioneering Danish photographer who ran a photographic business in

Hellebæk Hellebæk is a town located on the coast five kilometres northwest of Helsingør, North Zealand, some 40 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It has merged with the neighbouring community of Ålsgårde to form an urban area with a population o ...

in the north of Zealand from the early 1860s. Many of the photographs she took in the area near her home have been preserved and are published in Jesper Godvin Hansen's ''Fotografen Louise Thomsen 1823–1907''.

Biography

Born in

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The population is 7,999 (2022).

on 26 February 1823, Marie Louise Molbech was the daughter of the schoolteacher Carl Frederik Molbech (1785–1864) and his wife Catharina Maria Schertner (1782–1860). She had two older brothers. After matriculating from Frederiksborg lærde skole in Hillerød she became a private tutor for her cousin's children in Frederiksyndest near

Fredensborg Fredensborg () is a railway town located in Fredensborg Municipality, North Zealand, some 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is most known for Fredensborg Palace, one of the official residences of the Danish Royal Family. As of 1 Janua ...

. Photo by Marie Louise Thomsen On 14 June 1856, she married Frederich Gottfried Thomsen (1819–1891). In 1862, the family moved to the house known as Skovhuset in Hellebæk where they spent the rest of their lives. In August 1864 and frequently thereafter the ''Helsingør Avis'' published an advertisement announcing that portraits would be taken in the former forester's house in Hellebæk. The

Royal Danish Library The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...

has several portraits taken by Thomsen. On the back, they are stamped: "Photogr. af L. Thomsen, Hellebæk" (photographed by L. Thomsen, Hellebæk). She became known as a competent photographer. Marie Louise Thomsen died on 16 June 1907.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Louise 1823 births 1907 deaths People from Helsingør Municipality People from Sorø Municipality 19th-century Danish photographers Danish women photographers 19th-century women photographers