Baroness Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd (9 November 17732 July 1856) 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 ...

author, born in Copenhagen. Her maiden name was Buntzen.

Life and writing

She married the famous writer

Peter Andreas Heiberg Peter Andreas Heiberg (16 November 1758 – 30 April 1841) was a Danish-Norwegian author and philologist. He was born in Vordingborg, Denmark-Norway. The Heiberg ancestry can be traced back to Norway, and has produced a long line of priests, hea ...

when she was 16 years old. She bore him a son in the following year, the poet and critic Johan Ludvig Heiberg. In 1800, her husband was exiled for political activity and she obtained a divorce, marrying in December 1801 the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Baron

Carl Fredrik Ehrensvärd Carl Fredrik Ehrensvärd (January 7, 1767 – 1815) was a Sweden, Swedish Baron#The Nordic countries, baron, soldier, farmer and political writer who was convicted of involvement in the murder of Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III in 1792 and sentenc ...

, who was himself a political fugitive, as implicated in the murder in 1792 of Swedish king Gustavus III. Her second husband, who presently adopted the name of Gyllembourg (after his mother, who belonged to the Gyllenborg family), died in 1815. In 1822 she followed her son to Kiel, where he was appointed professor, and in 1825 she returned with him to Copenhagen. In 1827 she first appeared anonymously as an author by publishing the romance ''Familien Polonius (The Polonius Family)'' in her son's newspaper ''Flyvende Post (The Flying Post)''. In 1828 the same journal contained ''Den Magiske Nøgle (The Magic Key)'', which was immediately followed by ''En Hverdags-Historie (An Everyday Story)''. The success of this anonymous work was so great that she adopted the name of "The author of An Everyday Story" until the end of her career. In 1833–1834 she published three volumes of ''Old and New Novels'' followed in 1835–1836 by ''New Stories'' which also consisted of 3 volumes. In 1837 she published two novels, ''Montanus den Yngre (Montanus the Younger)'' and ''Nisida (Ricida)''. ''Een i Alle (One in All)'' was published in 1840, ''Nær og Fjern (Near and Far)'' in 1841, ''En Brevvexling (A Correspondence)'' in 1843, ''Korsveien (The Cross Ways)'' in 1844 and ''To Tidsaldre (Two Ages)'' in 1845. From 1849 to 1851 the Baroness Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd was engaged in bringing out a library edition of her collected works in twelve volumes. On 2 July 1856 she died in her son's house at Copenhagen. Throughout her life she had preserved the closest reticence on the subject of her authorship, even with her nearest friends, and it was only after her death that her authorship became known to the public.

Cultural references

Per Olov Enquist's 1981 play ''Från regnormarnas liv'' (''Rain Snake'') describes the relationship between Gyllenbourg and Heilberg.

Anne Marie Ejrnæs Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the N ...

's 2002 novel ''Som Svalen'' (''Like the Swallow'') is a biographical novel about Thomasine Gyllembourg.

Works

* ''Familien Polonius'' (1827) * ''En Hverdags-Historie'' (1828) * ''Den magiske Nøgle'' (1830) * ''Kong Hjort'' (1830) * ''Slægtskab og Djævelskab'' (1830) * ''Den lille Karen'' (1830) * ''Sproglæreren'' (1831) – play * ''Magt og List'' (1831) – play * ''Fregatskibet Svanen'' (1831) – play * ''Drøm og Virkelighed'' (1833) * ''Mesalliance'' (1833) * ''De Forlovede'' (1834) – play * ''Findeløn'' (1834) * ''De lyse Nætter'' (1834) * ''Ægtestand'' (1835) * ''En Episode'' (1835) * ''Extremerne'' (1835) * ''Jøden'' (1836) * ''Hvidkappen'' (1836) * ''Montanus den Yngre'' (1837) * ''Nisida'' (1837) * ''Maria'' (1839) * ''Een i Alle'' (1840) * ''Nær og fjern'' (1841) * ''Jens Drabelig'' (1841) * ''En Brevvexling'' (1843) * ''Korsveien'' (1844) * ''Castor og Pollux'' (1844) * ''To Tidsaldre'' (1845)

Notes

References

* * * Howitt, William, 1792–1879

, ''Two Ages: A Literary Review'', Vol XIV, Princeton series of Kierkegaard's Writings. * Inge Nørballe: ''Guldalderdigtere. Portrætter og poesi (Golden Age Poets. Portraits and poetry)'', Høst, 1999. * Birgit Bertung: ''Gyldne lænker – kvindernes guldalder. Om forholdet mellem mand og kvinde hos 10 guldalderpersonligheder (Golden chains – the golden age of women. On the relationship between man and woman among 10 Golden Age personalities)'', C.A. Reitzel, 2006. * Elisabeth Hude, Thomasine Gyllembourg og Hverdagshistorierne, Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1951. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllembourg-Ehrensvard, Thomasine Christine 1773 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Danish novelists Danish women novelists Burials at Holmen Cemetery 19th-century Danish women writers

Life and writing

Cultural references

Works

Notes

References

Further reading