Anna Margrethe Lasson (March 1659 – March 1738) was a Danish novelist, the first novelist in Denmark.

Biography

Lasson was 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 ...

, Denmark. Her Parents were Jens Lassen (1625–1706), was a High Court judge on the island of

Fyn Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, and Margrethe Christensdatter Lund. She grew up in the parish of Dalum. In 1662 her father purchased the manor of Dalum Kloster. In 1680, however, Jens Lassen was convicted of treason against the Crown and had to repay a large debt. Left destitute after her father's death in 1706, she lived in poverty with a sister at Priorgården in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

. Their home was sold at auction but they were allowed to live there to their deaths. Lasson was the author of a baroque tribute poem to the Norwegian poet

Dorothe Engelbretsdatter Dorothe Engelbretsdatter (16 January 163419 February 1716) was a Norwegian author. She principally wrote hymns and poems which were strongly religious. She has been characterized as Norway's first recognized female author as well as Norway's fi ...

(1634-1716), whom she defended and admired. In 1715, she wrote the novel ''Den beklædte Sandhed'', which was published in 1723 and became the first novel in Denmark. Her pseudonym was “det danske Sprogs inderlige Elskerinde Aminda”. Her writing was inspired by French writer

Madeleine de Scudéry Madeleine de Scudéry (15 November 1607 – 2 June 1701), often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. Her works also demonstrate such comprehensive knowledge of ancient history that it is suspected she had received inst ...

(1607–1701). She died in

References

Sources

*Lotte Thrane
"Margrethe Lasson"
Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon 1659 births 1738 deaths Danish women novelists 18th-century Danish writers 18th-century Danish women writers 17th-century Danish writers 17th-century Danish women writers 17th-century Danish novelists 18th-century Danish novelists Baroque writers {{denmark-writer-stub