Maria Octavia Carlén (22 November 1828 – 30 January 1881) was a Swedish writer.

Life

Octavia Carlén was born on 22 November 1828 in

Skara Skara is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecc ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She was the daughter of Carl Gabriel Carlén, an official, and his wife, Maria Carlén (née Mathesius). Carlén had two older brothers: Johan Gabriel and Richard, both became involved in literary circles. Richard's wife Emilie Flygare was also a writer. Thanks to her brothers, Carlén turned to writing at an early age. Through her father's friend and vicar, J. Stalin, Carlén developed an interest in historical productions. Her writings encompass both popular history and fictional narratives. Commentators have attempted to identify the antecedents of her writings. The oldest available information, dating back to 1857, is a four-page long homage to the duchess of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. A complimentary address to royalty, it shows her efforts to make a place for herself in the middle-class society. Her works have often been known to resemble those of Wilhelmina Stålberg. Carlén wrote for several publications such as ''Freja'', ''Linnea'', ''Norden'', ''Svea'', ''Vinterblommor'', and ''Violblomman''. Her first work of fiction, ''Ny och nedan, poemer och noveller'', was published in 1859. Two more works followed in the period 1861–1879: ''Fem noveller'' and ''Poemer och noveller''. During this time, she also turned her attention to historical fiction. Historical attractions became a frequent subject matter in her works, and she acknowledged their importance in her writings. In 1859, Carlén published a compilation of the Royal Armoury's collections. She followed it with another collection two years later where she described the

Drottningholm Palace The Drottningholm Palace ( sv, Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Drottningholm is near the capital Stockholm. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of Swede ...

. Other examples include,

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

and its monuments, the Ulriksdal,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, and

Tullgarn Tullgarn Palace ( sv, Tullgarns slott) is a royal summer palace in the province of Södermanland, south of Stockholm, Sweden. Built in the 1720s, the palace offers a mixture of rococo, Gustavian and Victorian styles. The interior design is rega ...

palaces, and a portrait collection from

Gripsholm Gripsholm Castle ( sv, Gripsholms slott) is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm. Since Gustav Vasa, Gripshol ...

. In 1866, she published a travel guide for a newly opened railway line from Stockholm to

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

. She also wrote about her 1969 trip to

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

in another publication. Carlén was also known to collaborate with other contemporary writers such as

Marie Sophie Schwartz Marie Sophie Schwartz née Birath (4 July 1819 – 7 May 1894), was a Swedish writer. She has since been referred to as the most successful female writers of the late 19th-century in Sweden. Life Marie Sophie Schwartz was born in Borås and was ...

and . Carlén died in Stockholm, on 30 January 1881.\

Life

References

Further reading