Signe Toksvig (1891–1983) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

writer. Her articles were published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the ''

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and other periodicals. She also published several books, including biographies of

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 ...

and

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had ...

. Her life and work, and obstacles she encountered, has also been the focus of scholarship by others. All her writings were in English. At age 14, Toksvig emigrated with her family from Denmark to the United States. She graduated from

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1916, and then worked as an assistant editor at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

''. In 1918, she married the journal's founder,

Francis Hackett Francis Hackett (21 January 1883 – 25 April 1962) was an Irish novelist and literary critic. He is most famous for writing a detailed book about Henry VIII but was also a noted critic and published several other books most of which were either ...

, an Irish writer and literary critic. They moved to Ireland in 1926 and lived there until 1937, when they moved to Denmark. They spent the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the United States, but returned to Europe and Denmark in the 1950s. She is the great aunt of

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...

Bibliography

Novels

* * * *

Biographies

* *

Articles

As editor

Critical studies, reviews and biography of Toksvig

* *Includes several letters to Toksvig.

References

External links

*
Signe Toksvig's articles online at ''The Nation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toksvig, Signe Danish women writers 1983 deaths 1891 births Cornell University alumni