Nini Roll Anker (3 May 1873 – 20 May 1942) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. Her books often concerned the lives of women within different social classes as well as the women's rights movement and the rights of the working class.

Personal life

Nicoline Magdalene Roll was born at

Molde Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is t ...

, Norway. She was the daughter of stipendiary magistrate and later member of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

and

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

Ferdinand Nicolai Roll Ferdinand Nicolai Roll (28 May 1831 – 28 February 1921) was a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born in Trondhjem as the son of judge and politician Jacob Roll and his third wife Nicoline Selmer.Stockholm while her father served as the Minister of Justice and Supreme Court Attorney. She was married twice, first in 1892 to land owner Peter Martin Anker (1863–1939), a son of politician

Nils Anker Nils Anker (14 June 1836 – 1 October 1893 ) was a Norwegian businessman, landowner and politician. He was born at Rød herregård in Halden, Østfold, Norway. He was a son of Peter Martin Anker and his second wife, Cathrine Olava Nicoline Gl ...

. After a divorce in 1907, she married his cousin, engineer and sailor Johan August Anker in 1910. The couple settled at Lillehaugen in

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken count ...

Career

She made her literary debut with the novel ''I blinde'' in 1898, using the pseudonym Jo Nein. In total, she wrote 18 novels, three novel collections and four plays. Among her later novels are ''Det svake kjøn'' (1915) and '' Den som henger i en tråd'' (1935). The biographical ''Min venn Sigrid Undset'' ("My friend

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian- Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924 ...

") and the diary novel ''Kvinnen og den svarte fuglen'' were published posthumously. In ''Den som henger i en tråd'' ("Those Hanging by a Thread"), the protagonist "Karen Anna" (or "Karna" for short) works as a seamstress in a clothing factory. The novel portrayes a group of unmarried women and their challenges in the society, and treats various topics of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...

and

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights in ...

, including

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproduct ...

, aspects of religion and social issues. The novel was adapted for television and staged at

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) which produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation), and operated until 1990, when a major reorganisati ...

in 1980. She died at

in May 1942. Nini Roll Anker and Johan Anker were both buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kre ...

in Oslo.

Selected works

* ''Lill-Anna og de andre'' (1906) * ''Benedicte Stendal'' (1909) * ''De vaabenløse'' (1912) *''Fru Castrups datter'' (1918) *''Kirken – skuespill'' (1920) * ''Huset i Søgaten'' (1923) * ''Komedien. Skuespil i tre akter'' (1923) * ''Kvindesind'' (1924) * ''Det svake kjønn'' (1924) * ''I amtmandsgaarden'' (1925) * ''Piken. Skuespil i tre akter'' (1925) * ''Under skraataket'' (1927) * ''Prisopgaven'' (1928) * ''Enken'' (1932) * ''Elling Torsens hjem'' (1934) * ''På ærens mark. Skuespill i tre akter'' (1934) * ''Den som henger i en tråd'' (1935) * ''På egen grunn'' (1936) * ''Små avsløringer'' (1937) * ''Bak Munkeruds fasade'' (1938) * ''Kvinnen og den svarte fuglen'' (1945) * ''Min venn Sigrid Undset'' (1946)

Personal life

Career

Selected works

References

Further reading