Victoria Benedictsson

Victoria Benedictsson
Born	Victoria Maria Bruzelius 6 March 1850 Domme, Skåne
Died	22 July 1888 (38 years) Copenhagen, Denmark
Pen name	Ernst Ahlgren
Occupation	Author
Language	Swedish
Nationality	Sweden
Notable works	Pengar (1886)
Spouse	Christian Benedictsson (1822 -1899)

Victoria Benedictsson (6 March 1850 in Domme – 22 July 1888) was a Swedish author and playwright writing under the pen name Ernst Ahlgren. She is, together with August Strindberg, regarded as one of the greatest proponents of the Swedish realist writing style and an important part of the Modern Breakthrough. In her novels she mainly depicts marriage problems and current women's issues, with notable works including Pengar (Money) (1885) and Fru Marianne (Mrs. Marianne) (1887).

Biography

Childhood

Victoria Benedictsson was born as Victoria Maria Bruzeliusand her parents were the farmer Thure Bruzelius and Helena Sophia Finérus. She grew up on the Charlottenberg farm in Domme in the southwestern part of the province Skåne.

Benedictsson was interested in art studies at an early age and took a job as a governess to earn money to go to Stockholm and train as an artist. However, her father, who had initially approved this, later changed his mind and denied her the opportunity.

To get away from her parents' influence, she married the postmaster of Hörby at the age of 21, Christian Benedictsson (born 1822 in Landskrona, died 1899 in Hörby). He was 49 years old and a widower with five children from his previous marriage. They had two daughters of their own, one of whom died in infancy.

In 1882, Victoria Benedictsson fell ill with a bone disease and became bedridden.

Debut

During her illness she developed her writing and in 1884 she made her debut with the short story collection Från Skåne (From Scania). The following year, the novel Pengar (Money) was published, which became her breakthrough.

At this time she became friends with the eleven years younger Axel Lundegård, the son of the Hörby priest. Like him and many other Swedish writers during the 1880s, she sought refuge in Copenhagen, where she attracted the attention of the Danish literary critic Georg Brandes with whom she had an unrequited love affair.

She also wrote plays, one of which, entitled I Telefon (On Telephone), was highly successful. The play was serialized in Familie Journalen in 1887.

Death

She committed suicide in room No. 17 in Leopold's Hotel on Hovedvagtsgade – near Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. She is buried in the city's Western Cemetery.

Further reading

• Victoria Benedictsson at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
• Feminism in Sweden

External links

• Works by Victoria Benedictsson at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Ernst Ahlgren at the Internet Archive
• Works by Victoria Benedictsson at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Victoria Lives! Columbia University conference, March 10–11, 2000, on the occasion of her 150th birthday