Sophie Wilhelmine Bertha Ørsted (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Oehlenschläger; 16 July 1782 – 9 February 1818) was a Danish

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

and

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

. Brought up in a literary environment 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 ...

, she was the sister of writer

Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthems ...

(1779–1850) and was married to jurist Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1778-1860). She became an inspiration for others, including the poet

Jens Baggesen Jens Immanuel Baggesen (15 February 1764 – 3 October 1826) was a major Danish poet, librettist, critic, and comic writer. Life Baggesen was born at Korsør on the Danish island of Zealand on February 15, 1764. His parents were very poo ...

(1764–1826). She died of abdominal complications when she was only 35.

Biography

Born in Frederiksberg Palace in the Copenhagen district of Frederiksberg, Sophie Wilhelmine Bertha Oehlenschläger was the daughter of the palace keeper and organist (1748–1827), who stemmed from the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ( ...

, and Martha Marie Hansen (1745–1800). She was brought up in the palace with her elder brother, the writer

who introduced

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

into Danish literature. The two siblings benefited from the cultural interests of their father and the rather strict religious influence of their mother, participating in literature readings and play acting in both Danish and German while they were still young. They also enjoyed playing together in the extensive palace gardens. She had no formal education but her brother conveyed to her much of what he had learnt in school. When her mother died in 1800, it was she who took care of the household. When he began to study, her brother introduced her to the Ørsted brothers; the physicist

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity ...

(1777–1851) and Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1778–1860), a lawyer who later became prime minister. Widely recognized as a budding beauty, Sophie became engaged to Anders Ørsted in 1801 and they married on 10 July 1802. She spent a number of happy years with him in their small residence at Vestergade 22 in central Copenhagen, listening to the poetry her brother Adam had written for her and reading mainly German poetry herself. She maintained a close relationship with her brother-in-law as well as with the physician (1772–1818) who served as chief physician at Frederiks Hospital in Copenhagen. As a result of rather poor health and her inability to have children, Sophie Ørsted sought other distractions, especially during the lengthy absence of her husband who from 1805 to 1809 was away on a study trip. Thanks to her natural charm, she had no difficulty in encouraging young men to visit her, inviting them to replace her husband by reading contemporary literature to her, above all

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

whom she particularly admired. Among those who showed interest in her were the writer Andreas Christian Gierlew (1774–1845) and the entomologist Martin Christian Gottlieb Lehmann (1775–1856). In particular, she cultivated a relationship with the writer

(1764–1826) who spent seven months living in her home from November 1806, as recorded in his diaries. When he left her to travel abroad, she wrote to him but her letters received no reply. He later dedicated other works to her but when he returned in 1811 she turned her back on him. Thereafter, the philosopher (1785–1872) became a frequent visitor to Vestergade, falling hopelessly in love with Ørsted, as recounted in his ''Gabrielis Breve'' (Letters of Gabrielis). He read them to her in 1814 but first published them after her death in 1826. She showed great interest in Sibbern and shared her enthusiasm for Goethe with him in the letters she wrote when she was feeling well enough. Sophie Ørsted died at 36 years of age in Copenhagen, after suffering from abdominal cancer. She is buried in Frederiksberg Cemetery.

References

External links

Sophie Ørsted og fejden med Oehlenschläger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsted, Sophie 1782 births 1818 deaths People from Frederiksberg Muses 19th-century Danish writers 19th-century Danish women writers Women letter writers Danish socialites Adam Oehlenschläger

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links