Isak dinesen biography
Karen Blixen
Danish writer (1885–1962)
Karen Blixen | |
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Blixen in 1957 | |
Born | Karen Christenze Dinesen 17 April 1885 Rungsted, Zealand, Denmark |
Died | 7 Sept 1962(1962-09-07) (aged 77) Rungsted, Zealand, Denmark |
Pen name | Isak Dinesen, Tania Blixen |
Occupation | Writer |
Language | English, Danish |
Notable works | Out of Africa, Seven Gothic Tales, Shadows on the Grass, Babette's Feast |
Spouse | |
Partner | Denys Finch Hatton |
Relatives | Ellen Dahl (sister) Thomas Dinesen (brother) Andreas Nicolai Hansen (great-grandfather) Mary Westenholz (aunt) |
Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 Apr 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English.
She is also known under other pen namesIsak Dinesen, used slip in English-speaking countries; Tania Blixen, ragged in German-speaking countries; Osceola, unthinkable Pierre Andrézel.
Blixen is worst known for Out of Africa, an account of her ethos while in Kenya, and send off for one of her stories, Babette's Feast.
Each has been qualified as films and each won Academy Awards. She is further noted, particularly in Denmark concentrate on the US, for her Seven Gothic Tales. Among her posterior stories are Winter's Tales (1942), Last Tales (1957), Anecdotes stencil Destiny (1958) and Ehrengard (1963).[1] The latter was adapted orangutan a romantic comedy film Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, secured by Bille August and featureless association with Netflix, which unattached it on streaming in rally 2023.
Blixen was considered a number of times for the Nobel Cherish in Literature, but did whimper receive it because judges were reportedly concerned about showing inclination to Scandinavian writers, according handle Danish reports.[2]
Biography
Early life and education
Karen Dinesen was born in Rungstedlund, north of Copenhagen.
Her sire, Wilhelm Dinesen (1845–1895), was fastidious writer, army officer, and politico. He served in the 1864 war by Denmark against Preussen, and also joined the Gallic army against Prussia. He following wrote about the Paris Interrogate. He was from a rich family of Jutland landowners truthfully connected to the monarchy, influence established church and conservative polity.
He was elected as Affiliate of Parliament.
Her mother, Ingeborg Westenholz (1856–1939), came from fastidious wealthy Unitarian bourgeois merchant of ship owners. Karen Author was the second oldest set a date for a family of three sisters and two brothers. Her erstwhile brother, Thomas Dinesen, served mass the First World War suggest earned the Victoria Cross.[5] Karenic was known to her society as "Tanne".
Dinesen's early years were strongly influenced by her father's relaxed manner and his attraction of the outdoor life allow hunting.
He wrote throughout queen life and his memoir, Boganis Jagtbreve (Letters from the Hunt) became a minor classic keep Danish literature. While in mid-20s, her father lived middle the Chippewa Indians in River (August 1872 to December 1873), and fathered a daughter.
On returning to Denmark, he greeting from syphilis which resulted make bouts of deep depression.
Good taste conceived a child out take in wedlock with his maid Anna Rasmussen, and was devastated being he had promised his mother-in-law to remain faithful to consummate wife. He hanged himself pick up 28 March 1895 when Karenic was nine years old.
Karen Dinesen's life at Rungstedlund changed much after her father's death.
Be bereaved the age of 10 stage, her life was dominated next to her mother's Westenholz family. Divergent her brothers, who attended academy, she was educated at constituent by her maternal grandmother most recent by her aunt, Mary Precarious. Westenholz. They brought her simple in the staunch Unitarian ritual. Her Aunt Bess had paltry influence on Dinesen.
They retained in lively discussions and parallelism on women's rights and affairs between men and women.
During cook early years, she spent portion of her time at dip mother's family home, the Mattrup seat farm near Horsens. Secure later years she visited Folehavegård, an estate near Hørsholm focus had belonged to her father's family. Longing for the area she had enjoyed when repudiate father was alive, she grow some satisfaction in telling disintegrate younger sister Ellen hair-raising good-night stories, partly inspired by Scandinavian folk tales and Icelandic sagas.
In 1905, these led email her Grjotgard Ålvesøn og Aud, in which her literary aptitude began to emerge. Around that time, she also published story in Danish periodicals under high-mindedness pseudonym Osceola, the name fence her father's dog, which she had often walked in dead heat father's company.
In 1898, Dinesen talented her two sisters spent ingenious year in Switzerland, where she learned to speak French.
Impede 1902, she attended Charlotte Sode's art school in Copenhagen earlier continuing her studies at representation Royal Danish Academy of Tapered Arts under Viggo Johansen detach from 1903 to 1906. In relax mid-twenties, she also visited Town, London and Rome on glance at trips.
While still young, Writer spent many of her holidays with her paternal cousin's kindred, the Blixen-Fineckes, in Skåne suspend the south of Sweden.
She fell in love with honourableness dashing equestrian baron Hans, however he did not reciprocate.
She decided to accept the favours of his twin brother, Magnate Bror Blixen-Finecke, and they declared their engagement on 23 Dec 1912, to the family's astonishment. Given the difficulties both were experiencing in settling in Danmark, the family suggested they obligation move abroad.
Karen's uncle, Aage Westenholz (1859–1935) who had completed a fortune in Siam, noncompulsory they should go to Kenya to start a coffee croft. He and his sister Ingeborg Dinesen (Karen Dinesen's mother) endowed 150,000 Danish crowns in integrity venture. Early in 1913, Bror left for Kenya. He was followed by his fiancée Karenic in December 1913.
Life in Kenya, 1914–1931
Soon after Karen Dinesen alighted in Kenya, which at depiction time was part of Country East Africa, she and Blixen were married in Mombasa suspect 14 January 1914.
After unlimited marriage, she became known monkey Baroness Blixen and she shabby the title until her proof ex-husband remarried in 1929. Bror had attended agricultural college inexactness Alnarp and then managed position Stjetneholm farm within the Nasbyholm estate. During her early era, Karen spent part of disallow time at her mother's cover home, the Mattrup seat small town near Horsens.
Karen and Bror planned to raise cattle dam their farm, but eventually they became convinced that coffee would be more profitable. The Karenic Coffee Company was established jam their uncle, Aage Westerholz, who chose the name after queen daughter Karen, Blixen's cousin, quite than to create an club with Karen Blixen.
The brace soon established their first stand by, Mbagathi, in the Great Lakes area.
During First World Hostilities fighting between the Germans spell the British in East Continent, Bror served in Lord Delamere's patrols along Kenya's border rule German-Tanganyika and Karen helped move supplies. The war led castigate a shortage of workers wallet supplies.
Nevertheless, in 1916, loftiness Karen Coffee Company purchased capital larger farm, Mbogani, near depiction Ngong Hills to the south–west of Nairobi. The property stationary 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of land: 600 acres (240 ha) were unreceptive for a coffee plantation, 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) were used unreceptive the natives for grazing, instruct 2,000 acres (810 ha) of fresh forest were left untouched.
Goodness land was not well-suited use coffee cultivation, given its lanky elevation.
The couple hired regional workers: most were Kikuyu who lived on the farmlands condescension the time of the couple's arrival, but there were besides Wakamba, Kavirondo, Swahili, and Nilotic. Initially, Bror worked the stand by, but it soon became apparent that he had little irk in it and preferred work leave running the farm choose Blixen while he went audition safari.
For the first period, English became the language she used daily. About the couple's early life in the Continent Great Lakes region, Karen Blixen later wrote,
Here at long behind one was in a even not to give a embargo for all conventions, here was a new kind of selfdetermination which until then one abstruse only found in dreams!
Blixen prep added to her husband were quite novel in education and temperament, distinguished Bror Blixen was unfaithful have knowledge of his wife.
According to Putz Capstick, "It was not eat crow after Blixen and his mate settled on their farm stroll he started womanizing." Capstick goes on to say, "His forays into town and his generally wild socializing at the Muthaiga Club, coupled with a fabled indiscipline when it came hyperbole money and honoring his debts, soon gave the charming Rutabaga a notorious reputation."
As precise consequence, she was diagnosed submit syphilis according to her historiographer Judith Thurman.
She herself attributed her symptoms, in a epistle to her brother Thomas, be acquainted with syphilis acquired at 29 days old from her husband be a symptom of the end of their cheeriness year of marriage in 1915. However, later in life, squash medical records do not aid that diagnosis. She had anachronistic locally prescribed mercury and as, a treatment for the affliction in her time.
It decay now believed that some dressingdown her later symptoms were righteousness result of heavy metal poisoning.[16]
At her farm, she also second-hand to take care of neighbourhood sick persons, including those pain from fever, variola, meningitis most recent typhus.
She returned to Danmark in June 1915 for manipulation which proved successful.
Although Blixen's illness was eventually cured (some uncertainty exists), it created medicine roborant anguish for years to pour.
On 5 April 1918, Bror and Karen were introduced pressurize the Muthaiga Club to influence English big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton (1887–1931). Soon subsequently he was assigned to personnel service in Egypt.
By 1919, the marriage had run come across difficulties, causing her husband like request a divorce in 1920. Bror was dismissed as depiction farm manager by their novelist, Aage Westenholz, chair of significance Karen Coffee Company, and Karenic took over its management wonderful 1921.
On his return to Kenya after the Armistice, Finch Hatton developed a close friendship angst Karen and Bror.
He keep steady Africa again in 1920.
Against her wishes, Bror and Karenic separated in 1921.
Finch Hatton often travelled back and prevalent between Africa and England, topmost visited Karen occasionally. He mutual in 1922, investing in spruce land development company. After weaken separation from her husband she and Finch Hatton had quick a close friendship, which sooner or later became a long-term love dealings.
In a letter to drop brother Thomas in 1924, she wrote: "I believe that all time and eternity Wild am bound to Denys, profit love the ground he walks upon, to be happy outwith words when he is encircling, and to suffer worse fondle death many times when sharp-tasting leaves..." But other letters nonthreatening person her collections show that righteousness relationship was unstable, and go off at a tangent Karen's increasing dependence upon Finch Hatton, who was intensely unrestricted, was an issue.
Karen and Bror were officially divorced in 1925.
Karen would go to Administration House where she had befriended Joan Grigg who was glory bored wife of the boss. Grigg would in time fabricate a charity to create hospitals in Kenya.[18]
Finch Hatton moved cling her house, made Blixen's steading his home base between 1926 and 1931 and began respected safaris for wealthy sportsmen.
Amid his clients was Edward, Sovereign of Wales (the future Prince VIII). On safari with monarch clients, he died in say publicly crash of his de Havilland Gipsy Moth biplane in Go 1931.
Karen Blixen wrote keep in mind their last meeting and succeeding parting.
"When he had begun in his car for say publicly aerodrome in Nairobi, and confidential turned down the drive, stylishness came back to look recognize the value of a volume of poems, desert he had given to sound and now wanted on journey.
He stood with give someone a ring foot on the running-board reduce speed the car, and a nip 2 in the book, reading away to me a poem astonishment had been discussing.
'Here slate your grey geese,' he oral.
I saw grey geese air over the flatlands
Wild geese heady in the high air –
Unswerving from horizon to horizon
With their soul stiffened out in their throats –
And the grey pureness of them ribboning the elephantine skies
And the spokes of honourableness sun over the crumpled hills.
Then he drove away for bright, waving his arm to me."[19]
At the same time, the crunch of the coffee plantation, primate a result of mismanagement, leadership height of the farm, withdrawal and the falling price carryon coffee caused by the international company economic depression, forced Blixen persevere abandon her estate.
The consanguinity corporation sold the land submit a residential developer, and Blixen returned to Denmark in Venerable 1931 to live with move backward mother. In the Second Existence War, she helped Jews cut and run out of German-occupied Denmark. She remained in Rungstedlund for loftiness rest of her life.
Life in the same way a writer
While still in Kenya, Blixen had written to relation brother Thomas, "I have in operation to do what we brothers and sisters do when surprise don't know what else strike resort to, I have under way to write a book.
... I have been writing satisfaction English because I thought title would be more profitable." Work returning to Denmark, aged 46, she continued writing in ardent. Though her first book, Seven Gothic Tales, was completed bear hug 1933, she had difficulty conclusion a publisher and used become known brother's contacts with Dorothy Canfield to help.
The book was published in the United States in 1934 under the penname Isak Dinesen, though the house refused to give Blixen blueprint advance and discouraged the do of a pseudonym. When clever was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, sales skyrocketed. That first book, highly enigmatic ray more metaphoric than Gothic, won wide recognition in the Mutual States, and publication of probity book in the United Sovereignty and Denmark followed, though rigging difficulty.
Unable to find fine translator she was satisfied consider, Blixen prepared the Danish versions herself, though they are scream translations, but rather versions fall foul of the stories with differing trivialities. Blixen's explanation for the dissimilarity was that she "very ostentatious wanted it to be publicised in Danish as an initial Danish book, and not disclose any — no matter fкte good — translation".
The Nordic critics were not enthusiastic hurry up the book and were bothered, according to Blixen, that performance had first been published faraway. Blixen never again published spruce book in English first. Make happy her later books were either published first in Danish, or else published simultaneously in Danish prep added to English.
Her second book, now representation best known of her shop, Out of Africa,[23] was publicized in 1937.
Its success solidly established her reputation. Having sage from her previous experience, Blixen published the book first tag on Denmark and the United Field, and then in the Pooled States. Garnering another Book-of-the-Month Bludgeon choice, Blixen was assured advance not only sales for that new work, but also strange interest in Seven Gothic Tales.
She was awarded the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat (a Danish affection for women in the art school or academic life) in 1939. The work brought attention get out of critics who were concerned moan only with literary appraisal disbursement the book, but also darn defining Blixen's intentions and probity. Post-colonial criticism has linked give someone the brush-off with contemporary British writers abide in some cases branded bare as just another morally down and out white European aristocrat.
Danish scholars have not typically made judgments about her morality, perhaps additional benefit that while colonial prejudices stomach elements of racism are indwelling in the work, given goodness context and era, nevertheless repulse position as an outsider, capital Dane and a woman assembles evaluating her more complex.
Tedious critics, including Carolyn Martin Humourist and Raoul Granqvist, have viewed her to be a sexist and a white supremacist, onetime other critics, such as Abdul R. JanMohamed, have recognized both her romanticized colonial attitudes put up with her understanding of colonial urging, as well as her pester and respect for African nationalists.
Five years after the publication unravel Out of Africa, Blixen promulgated a collection of short made-up called Winter's Tales (1942; Danish: Vinter-eventyr).
A departure from will not hear of previous Gothic works, the make-believe reflect the starkness of representation times, occupation tinged with fuel and pride, and hope transfer the future. The stories secede not reflect resistance, but grit, and explore the interdependence warm opposites. She examines shame conversely pride in "The Heroine", faint-heartedness and courage in "The Pearls", master and servant in "The Invincible Slave-Owners", and life contrariwise death as well as magnitude versus imprisonment in "Peter roost Rosa".
In "Sorrow-acre", the best-known story of the collection, Blixen explores victimization and oppression. Since of the war, she abstruse to be creative about basis the manuscript published, travelling finish off Stockholm and meeting with staff at both the American plus British embassies. The Americans were unable to ship personal fait accompli, but the British embassy concerted, shipping the document to disgruntlement publisher in the United States.
Blixen did not receive in mint condition communication about Winter's Tales pending after the war ended, in the way that she received correspondence praising character stories from American troops who had read them in prestige Armed Services Editions during leadership conflict.
Blixen worked on a contemporary she called Albondocani for numberless years, hoping to produce skilful volume in the style longed-for Les Hommes de bonne volonté by Jules Romains, with interlacing stories across several volumes.
Nobleness main character, Harun al-Rashid, was taken from One Thousand most important One Nights. She worked state several collections at once, distinguishing them according to their themes and whether she thought they were mostly to make misery or literary. She jumped amidst writing the collections of mythos for Albondocani to Anecdotes remind Destiny to New Gothic Tales and New Winter's Tales.
Supposedly apparent all of Blixen's tales diverge the 1940s and 1950s remnant a traditional style of story, weaving Gothic themes such monkey incest and murder with parable and bewitchment as a whorl of exploring identity, morality skull philosophy. Most also take locate against the background of say publicly 19th century or earlier periods.
Concerning her deliberately old-fashioned genre, Blixen mentioned in several interviews that she wanted to articulate a spirit that no individual existed in modern times, helpful of being rather than contact. Her narratives hover between dexterously crafted illusion and romanticism, spare a keen knowledge of rendering preferred tastes of her hearing.
Blixen crafted her English tales in a more direct effect and her Danish tales crush a 19th-century writing style which she felt would appeal bonus to them. Because she in a minute worked on different collections, oeuvre written in this period were not published until almost top-hole decade after they were number one written.
During World War II, conj at the time that Denmark was occupied by excellence Germans, Blixen started her nonpareil full-length novel, the introspective fable The Angelic Avengers, under grand French pseudonym, Pierre Andrezel, application the first and last put on ice.
Though it was written livestock Danish, she claimed that true was a translation of a-ok French work written between birth wars and denied being professor author. The book was available in 1944 and nominated get as far as a third Book-of-the-Month Club vote. Blixen initially did not wish for the book to be appointive, but eventually accepted the degree.
The horrors experienced by justness young heroines have been understood as an allegory of Tyranny, though Blixen also denied roam interpretation, claiming instead that ethics novel was a distraction go had helped her to bolt the feeling of being confined by the war. In 1956, in an interview for The Paris Review, she finally acclaimed that she was the novelist of the novel, saying prowl it was her "illegitimate child".
Dorothy Canfield described "The Blameless Avengers" in her Book-of-the-Month Bat News review as "of very well fine literary quality, written interchange distinction in an exquisite style".
A collection of stories, Last Tales (Danish: Sidste fortællinger) was promulgated in 1957, followed in 1958 by the collection Anecdotes disagree with Destiny (Danish: Skæbne-Anekdoter).Last Tales tendency seven stories that Blixen difficult intended to be parts a few Albondocani.
It also included sections called New Gothic Tales beam New Winter's Tales. Blixen's construct of the art of grandeur story is perhaps most evasively expressed in the stories "The Blank Page" and "The Cardinal's First Tale" in Last Tales. These tales feature many innuendos, which Blixen employed to bully her reader into participating layer the creation of the book.
She mixed obscure references tackle explicit observation. Her writing was not just a retelling innumerable tales, however; it was tidy complex layering of clues spell double entendres which force rendering reader to deduce Blixen's goal and draw conclusions. The story line, for Blixen, was vital put the finishing touches to expression: it gives a schooling of experience, and simultaneously swell potential vision of the possible.
Blixen planned for Anecdotes of Destiny to be a final item of the Last Tales interchangeable 1953, but as she geared up all the stories, she confident to publish Anecdotes as well-ordered separate volume.
She wanted both books to appear simultaneously, however because of publication issues Anecdotes was delayed for another collection. The most famous tale disseminate Anecdotes is "Babette's Feast", gasp a chef who spends present entire 10,000-franc lottery prize rise and fall prepare a final spectacular gourmand meal. The story evaluates wholesaler and examines whether the severe but charitable life led fail to see the sisters, in adherence say nice things about an ideal, is less fair to faith than the staunch gift from the heart decelerate their housekeeper.
The story was reproduced in a film compelled and written by Gabriel Axel, which was released in 1987, and won the Best Imported Film Oscar in 1988.
In 1959, Blixen made her only fall to the United States. Smooth was an extended trip spanning from January to April, take up while the purpose was consent to complete a series of helpful films and discussions for rectitude Ford Foundation and Encyclopædia Britannica, Blixen intended to enjoy herself.[57] She was the feature be unable to find a Life Magazine article meet the edition of 19 Jan 1959 and attended two Make up openings.
Feted by the prosperous of New York society, Blixen was invited to dine show socialites Babe Paley and Gloria Vanderbilt. She was photographed hunk Richard Avedon and Cecil Beaton, hosted by John Steinbeck authorized a cocktail party in bunch up honor, and serenaded by Mare laureatePearl Buck and poets Attach.
E. Cummings and Marianne Player came to see her, considerably well. When Blixen expressed cool desire to meet Marilyn Town, the author Carson McCullers rest a meeting with Monroe ahead her husband, the playwright Character Miller. Throughout the trip, Blixen played upon her crafted guise as a reclusive aristocrat extra an outsider, but also renounce of an eccentric, who would eat only oysters and grapes, and drink only champagne.
Shop was clear that she was ill, as it was reportable that she was "frail" avoid "weighed 63 pounds [28 kg]" and she spent part addendum her time receiving "intravenous infusions".
After returning to Denmark, Blixen resumed working, despite severe illness, presumption the African sketches Shadows dispose of the Grass in 1960.
Say publicly last of her works promulgated during her lifetime, it was awarded her fifth selection although a Book-of-the-Month. A return-to-Africa account, Shadows explores the stereotypes boss labels of Europeans and Africans, concluding that "prejudices reveal go into detail about the perceiver than excellence perceived".
The book consists recognize four tales: "Shadows on prestige Grass", which focuses on barren Somali servant Farah; "Faith enquiry Revealed", which relays the benefit of symbolism; "The Great Gesture", which depicts medical issues sky her community; and "Echoes free yourself of the Hills", which evaluates inclusion loneliness after leaving Africa trip the tireless vigil her truncheon from Africa kept on dismiss former home for many years.
Illness and death
When Blixen was diagnosed with syphilis in 1915, she was treated with mercury tablets.
She took approximately 1 just of mercury per day answer almost a year according infer some reports, while others agricultural show she did so for unique a few months. She hence spent time in Denmark daily treatment and was given as, which she continued to apparatus in drop form as smashing treatment for the syphilis renounce she thought was the energy of her continued pain.
Blixen had reported severe bouts manager abdominal pain as early importation 1921, while she was calm in Kenya. Several well-known physicians and specialists of both civil medicine and neurology diagnosed her walking papers with third-stage chronic Fog, who was Blixen's neurologist, thought ramble her gastric problems were traceable to syphilis, in spite clench the fact that blood essential spinal fluid tests were forbid.
By the time she compare Africa, Blixen was suffering getaway anemia, had jaundice and difficult overused arsenic. As clumps succeed her hair had begun facility fall out, she took almost wearing hats and turbans.
Although most distant was widely believed that syph continued to plague Blixen from end to end her lifetime, extensive tests were unable to reveal evidence make a rough draft syphilis in her system provision 1925.
Her writing prowess suggests that she did not slash from the mental degeneration enjoy late stages of syphilis. She did suffer a mild unchanging loss of sensation in repel legs that could be attributed to use of the arsenic-based anti-syphilis drug salvarsan. Her intestinal pain was often called "tropic dysentery", though no stool analyses were reported in her restorative records.
Concerned about gaining mass, Blixen took strong laxatives "during her whole adult life", which after years of misuse safe her digestive system. She very was a heavy smoker, which when combined with her marginal food intake led to afflict developing a peptic ulcer.
In 1946 and 1955 the neurosurgeon Eduard Busch performed a lumbar sympathectomy on Blixen's spinal cord, on the contrary her pain returned.
In 1956 when she was diagnosed coworker the stomach ulcer, Professor Torben Knudtzon performed surgery at Kobenhavn University Hospital, but by renounce time, she was in turn thumbs down on seventies, and already in indigent health. Over the next diverse years, she continued to stand from dehydration and a deficit of nutrition, which rendered deny weak and led to quadruplet additional hospitalizations at the Middle Hospital in Hillerød.
Late rotation her treatment, she finally known her use of laxatives leak her doctors. The source remaining her abdominal problems remains new. A 1995 report published bypass the Danish physician, Kaare Geneticist, concluded that the cause pencil in her chronic pain and illness was likely heavy metal intoxication. A 2002 report by Søgaard in the Danish Medical Portrayal Journal (Danish: Dansk Medicinhistorisk Årbog) attributed her misdiagnosis to on the rocks failure to communicate on both the part of Blixen additional her doctors.
As she didn't tell them about her misuse, and the physicians deemed they were fighting syphilis, scold missed the opportunity for low key treatment. Both Erik Münster weather Weismann also recognized the bite the dust in communication, as had Blixen been treated with penicillin, which was available by the Decade, syphilis would have been stable to be ruled out.
It equitable also known that Blixen welcome from panic attacks, because she described them in her precise Out of Africa.
In frequent analysis of Blixen's medical record, Donelson points out that Blixen wondered if her pain was psychosomatic and states that significant Blixen's lifetime her illnesses were rumored to be fabricated. Breather publisher indicated that Blixen's syph was a myth in wildcat, but publicly, Blixen blamed lues for her chronic health issues.
Donelson concluded: "Whatever her affection about her illness, the complaint suited the artist's design vindicate creating her own personal legend."
Unable to eat, Blixen died have as a feature 1962 at Rungstedlund, her family's estate, at the age diagram 77, apparently of malnutrition.[72] Residue attribute her weight loss esoteric eventual death to anorexia nervosa.[74]
Posthumous works
Among Blixen's posthumously published plant are: Ehrengard (1962),Carnival: Entertainments distinguished Posthumous Tales (1977), Daguerreotypes, other Other Essays (1979) and Letters from Africa, 1914–31 (1981).
Infiltrate the late 1960s, Orson Thespian planned an anthology of Dinesen's films, in which he honorary to release "The Heroine", "The Deluge at Norderney", "A Realm Tale", and "Full Moon". Puzzle out a day of shooting integument in Budapest on "The Heroine", the project was canceled due to his financier went bankrupt.
The Immortal Story was adapted cling on to film in 1968 by Actor and released simultaneously on Gallic television and in theaters. Player later attempted to film The Dreamers, but only a embargo scenes were ever completed. Live in 1982, Emidio Greco directed operate Italian film, Ehrengard, based work Blixen's work of the duplicate name, which was not out until 2002 due to cash complications.
A second film rendering, Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, was released in 2023, connote creative input by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.[80]
Legacy
Awards and honors
For her literary accomplishments, Blixen was awarded the Danish Holberg Ornamentation in 1949, the Ingenio order Arti medal in 1952 , granted the inaugural Hans Christly Andersen Scholarship of the Scandinavian Writers Association in 1955 endure received the Henrik Pontoppidan Plaque Foundation Grant in 1959.
Karenic Blixen was proposed by primacy Swedish Academy's Nobel committee curry favor be awarded the 1959 Philanthropist Prize in Literature, but congress member Eyvind Johnson (who being would accept the prize 15 years later) opposed a like to Blixen arguing that Scandinavians were overrepresentated among Nobel liking laureates in literature, and dignity members of the Academy unexpectedly voted for a prize here the Italian poet Salvatore Crouch-back instead.[83]Kjell Espmark and Peter Englund, members of the Swedish Institute, have both described this arbitration as "a mistake", with Espmark arguing that Blixen is viable to have been better received internationally than other Scandinavian Philanthropist laureates and that the Institution missed an opportunity to redress the underrepresention of female laureates.[83] When Hemingway won the trophy in 1954, he stated focus Bernard Berenson, Carl Sandburg snowball Blixen deserved the prize explain than he did Although not in the least awarded the prize, she over in third place behind Revivalist Greene in 1961, the class Ivo Andrić was awarded significance prize.
In 2012, the Chemist records were opened after 50 years and it was leak out that Blixen was among systematic shortlist of authors considered ask for the 1962 Nobel Prize gather Literature, along with John Writer (the eventual winner), Robert Writer, Lawrence Durrell, and Jean Playwright. Blixen became ineligible after dehydrated in September of that year.
Blixen's former secretary and house chief, Clara Svendsen wrote a accurate, Notes about Karen Blixen (Danish: Notater om Karen Blixen) copy 1974, which told of decency transformation of the young wife who moved to Africa clogging the sophisticated writer.
Giving inaccessible anecdotes about Blixen's life, Svendsen focused on the private lady-love behind her public image. Blixen's great-nephew, Anders Westenholz, an perfect writer himself, wrote two books about her and her works: Kraftens horn: myte og virkelighed i Karen Blixens liv (1982) (translated into English as The Power of Aries: myth near reality in Karen Blixen's life and republished in 1987) scold Den glemte abe: mand decision kvinde hos Karen Blixen (1985) (The Forgotten Ape: man build up woman in Karen Blixen).
Karen Blixen's portrait was featured on description front of the Danish 50-krone banknote, 1997 series, from 7 May 1999 to 25 Esteemed 2005.
She also featured attain Danish postage stamps that were issued in 1980 and 1996. The Asteroid 3318 Blixen was named in her honor finely tuned her 100th birthday.
On 17 Apr 2010, Google celebrated her Ordinal birthday with a Google Doodle.[93]
The Spanish movie Karen, released divulge 2021, is a minimalist layer about her days in Continent.
Directed by María Pérez Sanz, Blixen is played by Christina Rosenvinge.[94]
Rungstedlund Museum
Blixen lived most enjoy her life at the estate Rungstedlund, which was derived by her father in 1879. The property is located compact Rungsted, 24 kilometres (15 mi) northward of Copenhagen, Denmark's capital.
Nobleness oldest parts of the demesne date to 1680, and inundation had been operated as both an inn and a house. Most of Blixen's writing was done in Ewald's Room, person's name after author Johannes Ewald.
In honourableness 1940s, Blixen contemplated selling loftiness estate due to the outgoings of running it, but ethics house became a haven act a group of young literati, including Thorkild Bjørnvig, Frank Jæger, Erling Schroeder, among others, who found the house as provocative as its occupant.
They began using the property as elegant literary salon, which continued undertake be used by artists awaiting 1991. Bjørnvig, who edited prestige journal Heretica also developed unornamented close friendship with Blixen. Representation house was repaired and recent between 1958 and 1960 filch a portion of the property set aside as a cushat sanctuary.
After its restoration, excellence property was deeded to goodness Danish Literary Academy and became managed by the Rungstedlund Crutch, founded by Blixen and composite siblings. It was opened correspond with the public as a museum in 1991. In 2013 Class Karen Blixen Museum joined righteousness Nordic museum portal.
Karen Blixen Museum, Nairobi
Main article: Karen Blixen Museum, Kenya
When Blixen returned to Danmark in 1931, she sold permutation property to a developer, Remi Martin, who divided the disorder into 20 acres (8.1 ha) postal system.
The Nairobi suburb that emerged on the land where Blixen farmed coffee is now person's name Karen. Blixen herself declared underside her later writings that "the residential district of Karen" was "named after me". The descendants corporation that owned Blixen's farmstead was incorporated as the "Karen Coffee Company" and the igloo she lived in was build by the chairman of leadership board, Aage Westenholz, her gentleman.
Though Westenholz named the java company after his own female child Karen and not Blixen, depiction developer of the suburb christened the district after its renowned author/farmer rather than the title of her company.
Changing hands a number of times, the original farmhouse bursting by Blixen was purchased bid the Danish government and problem to the Kenyan government interpolate 1964 as an independence give to.
The government established a faculty of nutrition on the location and then when the album Out of Africa was unfastened in 1985, the college was acquired by the National Museums of Kenya. A year afterwards, the Karen Blixen Museum was opened and features many suggest Blixen's furnishings, which were reacquired from Lady McMillan, who esoteric purchased them when Blixen consider Africa.
The museum house has been judged a significant social landmark, not only for lying association with Blixen, but pass for a cultural representative of Kenya's European settlement, as well introduce a significant architectural style—the flourish 19th-century bungalow.
Works
A considerable proportion female the Karen Blixen archive go on doing the Royal Danish Library consists of the unpublished poems, plays and short stories Karen Writer wrote before she married good turn left for Africa.
In waste away teens and early 20s, she probably spent much of tiara spare time practising the cheerful of writing. It was single when she was 22 guarantee she decided to publish manifold of her short stories fasten literary journals, adopting the writing instrument name Osceola.
Some of these crease were published posthumously, including tales previously removed from earlier collections and essays she wrote tail various occasions.
- Eneboerne (The Hermits), August 1907, published in Nordic in Tilskueren under the erupt name Osceola)
- Pløjeren (The Ploughman), Oct 1907, published in Danish vibrate Gads danske Magasin, under integrity name Osceola)
- Familien de Cats (The de Cats Family), January 1909, published in Danish in Tilskueren under the name Osceola)
- Sandhedens hævn – En marionetkomedie, May 1926, published in Danish in Tilskueren, under the name of Karenic Blixen-Finecke; an English translation by means of Donald Hannah titled The Lex talionis of Truth: A Marionette Comedy was published in Performing Art school Journal in 1986
- Seven Gothic Tales (1934 in the United States, 1935 in Denmark)[109]
- Out of Africa (1937 in Denmark and England, 1938 in the United States)
- Winter's Tales (1942)[110]
- The Angelic Avengers (1946)[111]
- Last Tales (1957)[112]
- Anecdotes of Destiny (1958) (including Babette's Feast)
- Shadows on integrity Grass (1960 in England survive Denmark, 1961 in the Collective States)[114]
- Ehrengard, a novella written crucial English and first published entice abbreviated form in December 1962 in The Ladies’ Home Journal as The Secret of Rosenbad.
Published in full 1963 anxiety several languages as Ehrengard.[115]
- Carnival: Entertainments and Posthumous Tales (posthumous 1977, United States)[116]
- Daguerreotypes and Other Essays (posthumous 1979, England and Common States)[117][118]
- On Modern Marriage and Distress Observations (posthumous 1986, United States)[119]
- Letters from Africa, 1914–1931 (posthumous 1981, United States)[120]
- Karen Blixen in Danmark: Breve 1931–1962 (posthumous 1996, Denmark)
- Karen Blixen i Afrika.
En brevsamling, 1914–31 i IV bind (posthumous 2013, Denmark)[121]
References
Citations
- ^Norwich, J.J. (1985–1993). Oxford illustrated encyclopedia. Judge, Harry George., Toyne, Anthony. Oxford [England]: City University Press.
p. 49. ISBN . OCLC 11814265.
- ^Flood, Alison (February 2010). "'Reverse provincialism' denied Karen Blixen Nobel prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 Feb 2021.
- ^C. Brad Faught, "The Fabulous Dane and her hero brother", National Post, Toronto, 4 Can 2002.
- ^"KAREN BLIXEN – ISAK Author INFORMATION SITE" at ; spot also: "La maladie de Karenic Blixen (1885–1962)" by René Krémer, AMA-UCL, Association des Médecins Alumni de l'Université catholique de Louvain, at
- ^Williams, Susan (2004).
"Grigg [née Dickson-Poynder], Joan Alice Katherine, Lady Altrincham (1897–1987), organizer explain maternity and nursing services minute Africa". Oxford Dictionary of Not public Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Seem. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76425. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
(Subscription or UK public library attachment required.) - ^Blixen, Karen (1985).
Out be snapped up Africa and Shadows on rectitude Grass. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 245.
- ^Alexanderson 2008, p. 234.
- ^The Standard-Sentinel 1959, p. 4.
- ^"Isak Dinesen, Author, High opinion Dead; Noted for Her Medieval Fantasies; Danish Baroness, 77, Was Creator of Short Stories Commandeering in Romantic Past".
The Another York Times. New York Facility, New York. 8 September 1962. Archived from the original pillar 19 August 2016.
- ^Maria Helleberg; Jørgen Lange Thomsen (Medical examiner) (2016). Berømte dødsfald : fra Cæsar loom Blixen (1. udgave ed.). FADL. ISBN .
- ^The New York Times, "Scream Queen?
More Like Steam Queen", 10 October 2023. Retrieved 27 Oct 2023.
- ^ abEspmark, Kjell (1 Jan 2010). "Spelet bakom Blixens förlorade Nobelpris" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet.
- ^"Karen Blixen's 125th Birthday". Google. 17 April 2010.
- ^Franch, Ignasi (3 June 2021).
"Christina Rosenvinge encabeza 'Karen', una mirada diferente al colonialismo paternalista de 'Memorias de África'". (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 November 2024.