Henriette Gislesen

Henriette Jakobine Martine Gislesen, née Vibe (9 April 1809 – 20 May 1859) was a Norwegian writer.

She was born in Bergen as a daughter of County Governor Niels Andreas Vibe (1759–1814) and Margery Kierulff (1775–1852). She was a niece of Johan Vibe and Ditlev Wibe, sister of Ludvig Vibe, sister-in-law of Heinrich Arnold Thaulow,^[1][2] She grew up in Christiania, but her father died when Henriette was five years old, and they moved in with Benoni Aubert and Henriette's second cousin Ludvig Cæsar Martin Aubert. She was married twice. In April 1829 she married another second cousin, Christian Frederik Glückstad. They adopted one child, but the husband died in October 1838. She became a devout Christian after that.^[1]

She moved to Eiker, and became involved in missionary work. Together with Gustava Kielland she was one of the most important spreaders of missionary interest among women. After some years as a widow she also debuted as a moralistic writer. In 1843 she released the book En Moders veiledende Ord til sin Datter ("A Mother's Guiding Words to her Daughter"). It was released anonymously, but translated to Danish, German and English. In time she used her real name and published several books, including textbooks for missionaries.^[1] Memoirs were published posthumously in 1861, and a collection of her letters was published in 1885.^[3] In March 1854 she married Knud Gislesen. From 1856 they lived in Tromsø where her husband was bishop. She died in May 1859 in Tromsø.^[1]

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