Louise Ahlén (; 28 November 1857 – 24 May 1913) was a Swedish writer most famous for her two added verses to the Swedish National anthem.Tidningen Idun Årgång 26, nr 44, 2 november 1913

Biography

Ahlén was born Louise Holmer on the 28 November 1857 in

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

. In 1880 Louise married Abraham Ahlén who worked as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at Kristianstad's Higher Educational Institute ().

Additional lyrics to ''Du gamla, du fria''

During the

Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden The dissolution of the union (; ; Høgnorsk, Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; ) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of ...

Ahlén wrote two additional verses to the Swedish national anthem ''

Du gamla, du fria (), is the ''de facto'' national anthem of Sweden. Originally titled (), its lyrics were written in 1844 by Swedish antiquarian Richard Dybeck, who set them to a variation of the old Swedish folk music, folk melody ''Kärestans död'' ()''.'' ...

''. These additions were aimed to make the anthem more

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

, in contrast to the original that was heavily inspired by the mid 19th-century's pan-Scandinavian

Nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. Here are Ahlén's lyrics to ''Du gamla, du fria'':

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlén, Louise. 1857 births 1913 deaths Swedish-language writers Swedish women writers 19th-century Swedish women writers 20th-century Swedish women writers 20th-century Swedish songwriters Writers from Skåne County Swedish women songwriters Musicians from Skåne County People from Kristianstad