Anne Wolden-Ræthinge, known by the pseudonym Ninka, (11 July 1929 – 22 April 2016) was a Danish broadcast and newspaper journalist, biographer and writer who specialised in interviews with high-profile figures. She first worked at the Copenhagen daily conservative newspaper ''

Nationaltidende ''Nationaltidende'' was a Danish daily newspaper published from 18 March 1876 to 3 September 1961 by De Ferslewske Blade in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Nationaltidende'' was established by Jean Christian Ferslew in March 1876. It ...

'' in 1951 and authored articles about women's issues at ' from 1954 to 1961 with contributions to ''

Alt for Damerne ''Alt for Damerne'' (stylized as ''ALT for Damerne''; ) is a Danish language weekly women's magazine published in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has been in circulation since 1946. History and profile ''Alt for Damerne'' was established in 1946. Its fo ...

''. Wolden-Ræthinge worked for the Sunday edition of the newspaper ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'' from 1961, covering social issues and then became the publication's leading interviewer for its feature articles. She was a 1974 recipient of the

Cavling Prize The Cavling Prize () is a Danish journalist award. It is awarded annually in January to "a journalist or a group of journalists who have shown initiative and talent in the past year." The Prize commemorates Henrik Cavling, founder of the Dani ...

and was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1991.

Early life

Wolden-Ræthinge was born in

Gråsten Gråsten (; ) is a town with a population of 4,298 (1 January 2025) on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark by the Nybøl Nor at an inlet of the Flensburg Fjord. It belongs to the Sønderborg municipality in Region of Souther ...

in South Jutland on 11 July 1929. She was the daughter of the detective Hans Povl Emil Ræthinge and the customs administrator Ellen Margrethe Wolden. Wolden-Ræthinge had two younger siblings and was brought up in Gråsten with a politically active mother and a local journalist. She attended , where she gave brief interviews to the local social democratic newspaper ''Sønderjyden'' in her final years there. Wolden-Ræthinge graduated from the school in 1946 and joined the staff of ''Sønderjyden'' as a trainee journalist the following year. She ventured to the United States and studied journalism at

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

under the Marie Illum Grant and the Carlsberg Foundation Travel Grant for two-and-a-half-years.

Career

Following her return to Denmark, Wolden-Ræthinge gained employment at the Copenhagen daily conservative newspaper ''

'' in 1951. In 1954, she was employed by ' after the journalist , the newspaper's female pages editor, introduced Wolden-Ræthinge to the publication. Wolden-Ræthinge adopted the pseudonym Ninka after the busy and organised

Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

(Ninka Ninus) in the children's story series "

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

" by

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. She had been asked by the newspaper's typographers to adopt a short pseudonym for easier printing in the lead of the time. Wolden-Ræthinge primarily authored articles about women's issues. She did some Danish radio broadcasts with the writer from 1954 to 1958 and was a contributor to ''

''. After ''Dagens Nyheder'' closed in September 1961, Wolden-Ræthinge transferred to the daily newspaper ''

'' by its Sunday editor

Paul Hammerich Paul Hammerich (12 June 1927 – 16 April 1992) was a Danish journalist and writer. Hammerich was one of the writers behind the successful Danish TV-series, ''Matador A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfi ...

. Her first years at the publication saw her cover social issues, which she did by conducting multiple interviews with an emphasis on human aspects. Wolden-Ræthinge became the publication's leading interviewer for its feature articles on its Sunday edition, and her first interview was with her former editor-in-chief Jens Søltoft-Jensen. She came into close contact with many personalities from the worlds of architecture, literature, music, politics, theatre, revues and visual arts, and conducted many interviews with them by focusing on "the psychological empathy based on sympathy, prefers more than she provokes or seeks to hand over." Wolden-Ræthinge specialised in the personal interview that aims "to paint a topical, possibly situational, portrait of the interviewee" and focus primarily on the interviewees views, assessments and inner life in lieu of critical analysis or professional aspects from their working life. She interviewed notable world figures such as

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

and

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

as well as Danish personalities including

Carl Theodor Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history, his movies are noted for emotional austerity ...

Osvald Helmuth Osvald Helmuth (14 July 1894 – 18 March 1966) was a Danish stage and film actor and revue singer. Life and career His career began in Randers in 1913, and he later appeared in the Nørrebro Teater in Copenhagen.

Jens Otto Krag Jens Otto Krag (; 15 September 1914 – 22 June 1978) was a Danish politician, who served as the prime minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1968 and again from 1971 to 1972, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1962 to 1972. He was president of ...

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish Painting, painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. His works have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in many important public collections, including the Tate, Metropolitan Museum ...

and

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20 ...

. Wolden-Ræthinge portrayed members of the Danish royal family in books and on television. She was the author of books based on her interviews, including ''udgivet 33 portrætter'' (1969), ''Den vanskelige død'' (1974), ''Ni Ninka interviews fra Amalienborg til Christiania'' (1977), ''Pas på! Dig og trafikken'' (1978), ''Nye Ninka interviews'' (1980), ''Dialog mellem to generatione'' (1988), ''Dronning i Danmark. Margrethe den anden fortæller om sit liv'' (1989), ''og En familie og dens dronning'' (1996), ''29 danske politikere. Ninka interviews gennem 40 år'' (2001), ''Rejse i livet – kronrins Frederik fortæller til Ninka'' (2002), ''Om lidt er vi borte. Modstandsbevægelsens topfolk fortæller til Ninka'' (2005) and ''Helle – i samtaler med Ninka'' (2011).

Personal life

Wolden-Ræthinge had one child, and was not married. She died on 22 April 2016.

Awards

In 1974, Wolden-Ræthinge was awarded the

to honor her "as an interviewer and also for giving readers a new insight into the everyday world in which we live." That same year, she was the recipient of the and the Ebbe Muncks Honorary Award in 1992. Wolden-Ræthinge was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolden-Ræthinge, Anne 1929 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Danish women writers 21st-century Danish women writers 20th-century Danish biographers 21st-century Danish biographers 20th-century Danish journalists 21st-century Danish journalists Danish women journalists Danish women biographers Radio reporters and correspondents Politiken writers Danish newspaper writers People from Sønderborg Municipality Oklahoma State University alumni Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog