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Sophie Elkan née Salomon (3 January 1853,
/ref> She was raised in a happy home and affected strongly by her intellectual mother. In 1872 she married her cousin, the music book seller Nathan Elkan (1834-1879), with whom she had a daughter, Kerstin (1877-1879). Her marriage was happy, and the death of both her spouse and daughter in december 1879 with
As a person, she has been described as egocentric and nervous, but also as hospitable and charming. In 1894, she became acquainted with
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 ...
–5 April 1921, 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 ...
), was a Swedish writer and translator.
Life
Sophie Salomon was born to the merchant Alexander Salomon and Henriette Abrahamson: her parents had migrated to Sweden from Germany. Her elder brother,Otto Salomon
Otto Aron Salomon (1849–1907) was a Swedish educator and both a noted writer and proponent of educational sloyd. Born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1849, Salomon studied at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm but left after a year to accept a po ...
was educator.Eva Helen Ulvros (trad. Alexia Grosjean), 'Sophie Elkan', Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
''Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon'' (SKBL), known in English as Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women, is a Swedish biographical dictionary of Swedish women. It was started in 2018 when 1,000 articles about Swedish women were published in Sw ...
, 201/ref> She was raised in a happy home and affected strongly by her intellectual mother. In 1872 she married her cousin, the music book seller Nathan Elkan (1834-1879), with whom she had a daughter, Kerstin (1877-1879). Her marriage was happy, and the death of both her spouse and daughter in december 1879 with
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
caused a crisis; for the rest of her life, she dressed in black.
As a widow, she began to make translations, publish serials and papers, and debuted as a novelist in 1889. Her first novel, ''John Hall – en historia från det gamla Göteborg'', was an immediate success. As a writer, she made much use of her own life and experiences in her novels.
As a person, she has been described as egocentric and nervous, but also as hospitable and charming. In 1894, she became acquainted with Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
, who, as is evident from their correspondence, was in love with her.Du lär mig att bli fri: Selma Lagerlöf skriver till Sophie Elkan. Stockholm: Bonnier i samarbete med Selma Lagerlöf-sällsk. 1992. Libris 7148844. Utgivare: Ying Toijer-Nilsson. The two women visited Italy in 1895, and traveled to Egypt, Palestine, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland in 1899.
After her death, Lagerlöf inherited her personal possessions, which she used to convert a room in her home Mårbacka into an Elkan museum, known as Elkanrummet (Elkan Room).
In fiction
The relationship betweenSelma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
, Valborg Olander
Valborg Olander (Uddeholm Manor, Värmland 14 May 1861 – 27 February 1943, Stockholm), was a Swedish teacher, politician and suffragette. She is known for her friendship with Selma Lagerlöf.
Life and career
Valborg Olander was born as one o ...
and Sophie Elkan was portrayed in ''Selma'', a TV series written by Åsa Lantz in 2008, with Helena Bergström
Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (born 5 February 1964) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (''Dramaten'') and the Stockho ...
as Selma Lagerlöf, Ingela Olsson
Ingela Maria Olsson (born 28 February 1958 in Nybro, Sweden) is a Swedish actress.
Olsson was active in many different theatre groups during the 1980s. She started working at the Galeasen theatre in 1989, and appeared at Stockholms stadsteat ...
as Valborg Olander and Alexandra Rapaport
Alexandra Susanna Rapaport (born 26 December 1971 in Bromma) is a Swedish film and stage actress. She studied at the Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm, from which she graduated in 1997. She then worked for Uppsala Theatre before becoming engaged by ...
as Sophie Elkan.
Works
* Dur och moll: skizzer och berättelser. Visby: Gotlands Allehandas tr. 1889. * Med sordin : Skisser och novelletter. Visby. 1891. * Rika flickor: berättelse. Stockholm: Fr. Skoglund i distr. 1893. * Säfve, Kurt & C:o: nutidsberättelse. Stockholm: Skoglund (distr.). 1894. * Skiftande stämningar: ett novellhäfte. Visby. 1896. * John Hall: en historia från det gamla Göteborg. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1899. * Drömmen om österlandet. Nordiskt familjebibliotek, 99-3140236-9 ; 10. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1901. * Konungen: en sannsaga. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1904. * Konungen i landsflykt: en sannsaga. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1906. * Från östan och västan: en novellbok. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1908. * Anckarström : en historia från idyllens och revolutionernas tidehvarf.. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1910 * Erdmann, Nils August Bondeson ; Ola Hansson ; Sophie Elkan ; Axel Lundegård ; Daniel Fallström. ''Sveriges national-litteratur, 1500-1900 / utgifvet af Henrik Schück och Ruben G:son Berg'', 20. Albert Bonniers, 1912.References
Nordisk familjebok
''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
'' (second edition, 1907)
*''Svenskt författarlexikon
, subtitled , is a Swedish biobibliographical dictionary of Swedish-language authors published by Rabén & Sjögren between 1942 and 1981, covering the years 1900–1975 in seven parts in ten volumes.
The first part in three volumes was publis ...
:'' ''.'' , 1900–1940 Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren. 1942. sid. 183–184. Libris 113133
Further reading
*External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elkan, Sophie 1853 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Swedish women writers 19th-century Swedish writers Swedish Jews Swedish people of German-Jewish descent Selma Lagerlöf