Conradine Birgitte Dunker (née Hansteen) (25 August 1780 – 11 September 1866) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

socialite and writer.

Biography

Conradine Birgitte Hansteen was born in Christiania, 25 August 1780. Her parents were the custom official Johannes Mathias Hansteen (1744–1792) and Anne Cathrine Treschow (1754–1829). In 1796, she married captain Ulrik Anton Nicolai Blix Aamodt (1758-1806), and in 1807, she married the businessman Johan Friedrich Wilhelm Dunker (1775–1844). She was the mother of

Bernhard Dunker Bernhard Dunker (22 May 1809 – 28 July 1870) was a Norwegian jurist, barrister and Attorney General of Norway. Personal life Dunker was born in the Duchy of Schleswig in Southern Jutland to Conradine Birgitte Hansteen and Johan Friedrich W ...

and

Vilhelmine Ullmann Vilhelmine Ullmann (née Dunker; 16 March 1816 – 28 April 1915) was a Norwegian pedagogue, publicist, literary critic and proponent for women's rights. Early and personal life Ullmann was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the ...

. Her younger brother was astronomer

Christopher Hansteen Christopher Hansteen (26 September 1784 – 11 April 1873) was a Norwegian geophysicist, astronomer and physicist, best known for his mapping of Earth's magnetic field. Early life and career Hansteen was born in Christiania as the son of J ...

; as such she was the aunt of feminist and painter

Aasta Hansteen Aasta Hansteen, also known as Hasta Hanseen (born December 10, 1824 – April 13, 1908), was a Norwegian painter, writer, and early feminist. Life and career Aasta Hansteen was born in Christiania, modern day Oslo, the daughter of Christopher ...

. She held a "prominent spot in the social life of the capital city", according to one encyclopedia. She was involved in the Dramatic Society in 1796-1831, both as a translator and as an actress, and described as a talented actress, particularly in the Magdelone-parts in the Holberg plays. Between 1814 and 1831, she managed a fashionable girls' school in her home: it was a conventional finishing school which focused on accomplishments, and was one of the leading girls' schools for the rich in Christiania at that point. In 1831, the family moved to Trondheim. She was widowed in 1844, and worked as a teacher in a girls' school managed by her daughter Jacobine from 1849 until the death of her daughter in 1857, after which she moved back to Christiania. Her memoirs ''Gamle Dage : Erindringer og Tidsbilleder'' were published posthumously in 1871, and are seen as valuable sources on the 19th century cultural life. It has been re-published several times, and Conradine Birgitte Dunker was also biographed in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunker, Conradine Birgitte 1780 births 1866 deaths Norwegian writers Writers from Oslo Norwegian salon-holders 18th-century Norwegian actresses 19th-century Norwegian educators 19th-century Norwegian women writers