Anna Maria Lenngren

Anna Maria Lenngren
Born June 18, 1754, Uppsala, Sweden
Died March 8, 1817, Stockholm, Sweden (aged 62)
Cause of death
 Breast cancer
Residence Stockholm, Sweden
Other names Anna Maria Malmstedt
Occupation Writer, poet and translator
Known for Swedish writer, poet, and salonist
Spouse(s) Carl Peter Lenngren; one adopted child

Anna Maria Lenngren (née Malmstedt; June 18, 1754 – March 8, 1817) was a Swedish writer, poet, translator and salonist. She is one of the best-known Swedish woman poets.

Background

The daughter of Magnus Brynolfsson Malmstedt, a poet and professor of Latin at Uppsala University, she learned Latin and the Classics at a young age and was greatly encouraged by her father to write and explore literature. He saw her talent early on, and declared that he wanted to "create of her not only an educated, but a wise and learned woman".[1]

Her father died under suspicious circumstances after having lost his position at the university by violating the religious restriction laws;[2] he was a member of the herrnhuts (Moravian Church) and had arranged private religious gatherings, which was banned.[3] Her mother died early, and her stepmother, previously her father's servant, became known for her Christian poetry[4] Lenngren wrote poems when she was a teenager, debuted as a poet in 1775 in the paper of Anna Hammar-Rosén in Gothenburg, and became a member of the academy Vetenskaps-och Vitterhets-samhället in Gothenburg.

Early career

As an adult, her first paid, professional work were reviews, epitomes, epigrams and translations, among them translation of Horace.[5]

In 1776 she was hired by Duke Charles, the King's brother, for the translation of a French Opera, Lucile; this was the first operetta translated to the Swedish language.[6] In its introduction, she defence the right of academic work for her gender.[7] After this, she was hired a regular basis as a translator of published operettas by the royal court[8] As a token of recognition and appreciation, Lenngren received several official gifts, such as a "golden clock", from the royal house, illustrating her then status as a court writer.[1] She also translated erotic French poetry.[9]

She was generally given received favorable reviews in the press.[10] She proclaimed herself a "litterata", openly criticising the rampant misconceptions and preconceptions about women's roles in society. She was known as a speaker for the free mind, especially women's right to intellectual independence.[11]

She was elected into a number of literal societies and academys, notably the Utile Dulci Society in 1779.[12] She was one of only three females known to have been a member of the Utile Dulci, the other being Anna Charlotta von Stapelmohr and Anna Brita Wendelius.[13]

Marriage

In 1780, she married Carl Peter Lenngren, editor of the newspaper Stockholmsposten, and after that she stepped back from the public scene, instead contributing anonymously to her husband's publication. Her silence lasted for ten years, during which she instead became one of Sweden's leading salonists and a centre of the cultural and political debate;[14][15] she counted Johan Henric Kellgren, Gustaf af Leopold, Nils von Rosenstein, Frans Michael Franzén and Gudmund Jöran Adlerbeth among her guests. As a salonist after her marriage, she was described as witty and energetic but also humble and shy[16]

Later career

In 1790, she again became more active when one of her husbands most celebrated journalists died, and she made herself once again famous with her writing. She criticised the snobbism of the nobility, the humble admiration their servants gave them and the anxious bowing of the working class. A realist she idealized "The third class", and was inspired by the French Revolution.[17] Above all, she fought for the intellectual freedom of women; that also women should be allowed to have opinions.[18]

Her home on Beridarebansgatan was the center of the Royal Swedish Academy, and though she was not a formal member – probably because she had declined being elected – she was a member de facto, and the academy referred to her as their "Invisible member". Despite of her wish to remain anonymous, the academy made her public again by expressing their admiration with a complimentary poem to her honor in December 20, 1797: Ode till fru Lenngren ("Ode to Mrs Lenngren'"), read by Gustaf Fredrik Gyllenborg. She declined the admiration with Dröm ("Dream"), a poem, though she did not issue it anonymously but signed it with her own name.[19][20][21]

Feminism

Her work as a feminist is much debated; Anna Maria Lenngren is famed for her great love for irony, which have made people unsure about how to understand what it was she really meant.[22] In the poem: Några ord till min kära dotter, ifall jag hade någon (1794) (Advice to my daughter, if I had one) she discusses the topic regarding women and politics, where she wrote that every women did best to concentrate on being a wife and mother and not on learning or politics, because: "Our household is our Republic; are politics is our appearance".[23]

Her writings are generally in verse, sometimes very short, and often about everyday life. They frequently employ satire and irony and she is regarded as a realist. Speaking of her work, Fredrik Böök says that "there was every word needed and no more, almost no adjectives. She painted with only verbs and substantives", and Snoilsky writes in his poem En afton hos fru Lenngren ("An evening at Mrs Lenngren's"): "It's like a burdock, this witty meter"[24]

Family

She never had any biological children, though she adopted a daughter. Her adopted daughter was later placed in a mental asylum, where she died soon after she was admitted[25]

Death

Lenngren's tombstone at Klara kyrka in Stockholm

Lenngren eventually became one of the most well-known and popular Swedish writers of the 18th century. She died of breast cancer, aged 62,[26] and was interred in the Klara kyrka cemetery in Stockholm. Her collected poems where published by her widower under the name Skaldeförsök ("Attempts of Poetry") in 1819, in accordance with her instructions. After its publication, the Royal Swedish Academy had a memorial medal made with the inscription: "The less she sought fame, the more it was given to her".[27]

Sample of work

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 (Swedish) Lindqvist, Herman: Historien om Sverige. Gustavs dagar (History of Sweden. The days of Gustav)
  2. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  3. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  4. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  5. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  6. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  7. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  8. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  9. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  10. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  11. ↑ (Swedish) Stig Hadenius, Torbjörn Nilsson & Gunnar Åselius: Sveriges historia. Vad varje svensk bör veta (History of Sweden: "What every Swede should know")
  12. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  13. ↑ Ann Öhrberg: Fasa för all flärd, konstlan och förställning” Den ideala retorn inom 1700-talets nya offentlighet. Samlaren. 2010
  14. ↑ (Swedish) Hadenius, Nilsson & Åselius, ibid. (What every Swede should know)
  15. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. The days of Gustav)
  16. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  17. ↑ (Swedish) Hadenius, Nilsson & Åselius, ibid. (What every Swede should know)
  18. ↑ (Swedish) Hadenius, Nilsson & Åselius, ibid. (What every Swede should know)
  19. ↑ (Swedish) Österberg, Carin: Svenska kvinnor; Föregångare Nyskapare (Swedish women; Predecessors, pioneers) Signum, Lund (1990)
  20. ↑ (Swedish) Anna Maria Lenngren, Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon
  21. ↑ (Swedish) Anna Maria Lenngren, Nordisk Familjebok (2nd edition)
  22. ↑ Warme, Lars G, A History of Swedish Literature, Volume 3, pub University of Nebraska, 1996, p478.
  23. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  24. ↑ (Swedish) Österberg, C., ibid. (Swedish women; Predecessors, pioneers) Signum, Lund (1990)
  25. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  26. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)
  27. ↑ (Swedish) Lindqvist, ibid. (The days of Gustav)

Sources

External links