Anna Maria Lenngren

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 poet. She is one of the most famous poets in Swedish history.

Life

Anna Maria Lenngren was born in Uppsala as the daughter of the poet Magnus Brynolfsson Malmstedt (1724–1798), a professor in Latin of the Uppsala University, and Märta Johanna Florin (d. 1788). Her father was a member of the Moravian Church and known for his social work: from 1772, he hosted a school for poor children in his home. Both her parents published psalms, and her brother Johan Magnus (1749–80) wrote secular poems.

Anna Maria Lenngren is regarded to have been affected against religion and in favor of the realism of the age of enlightenment because of her dislike of her father's passionate religious feelings, but her humanism and passion for social justice has also been attributed to the influence of her philanthropic father.[1] In her social views, she felt sympathy for the working classes, opposed the privileges of the nobility and acted as a spokesperson for the "third estate", and idealized a simple and humble life style.[1]

Her father observed her talent early on and stated that he wished to "make of her a not only literary, but learned woman":[1] he gave her an advanced education, and she was tutored at home in Latin and the Classics of antiquity.[1] Her favorite poet was Horace.[1]

Anna Maria Lenngren began her production with reviews, epitomes, epigrams and translations in the 1770s: among her earliest work were likely interpretations of Horace, published anonymously in the press.[1] In 1772, she debuted with the first poem published under her own name, the funeral poem På mademoiselle Anna Lovisa Pahls saliga hemfärds dag, den 14 Maji 1772, die Corona. In 1774–77, she frequently participated in the paper Hwad Nytt?? Hwad Nytt?? by Anna Hammar-Rosén.

In 1776 she was commissioned by Duke Charles, the King's brother, for a translation by the French language operetta Lucile, which became known as the first French language operetta translated to the Swedish language. In its introduction, she defended women's right to intellectual work.[1] The translation was a success: Lenngren was awarded a golden clock as a token of appreciation by the royal Duchess Charlotte, and was after this assigned several similar translation work by the royal house.[1]

Lenngren enjoyed great success: already in 1774, she was inducted in to a literary society in Uppsala, she was given good reviews and poetic tributes in the press, became known as a defender of intellectual women and referred to herself as a "litterata".[1] She was inducted as a member of the Royal Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg in 1775, and as a member of the Utile Dulci in 1779.[2] She was one of only three females known to have been members of the Utile Dulci, the others being Anna Charlotta von Stapelmohr and Anna Brita Wendelius.[2] In 1777, she repeated her demand in favor of women's right to intellectual pursuits in Thé-conseillen.[1]

In 1780, she married the official Carl Peter Lenngren (1750–1827). Her spouse was the chief editor of Stockholms-Posten, which he published in collaboration with Johan Henric Kellgren. Kellgren worked together with her on several assignments from 1778 onward, and he reportedly acted as a source of inspiration for her, and she shared his interest in the ideas of Voltaire.[1] She published poems and prose in Stockholms-Posten from 1778 onward, but from her wedding, she only published her work anonymously, and toward the end of the 1780s, her production had been discontinued altogether.

Her marriage signified a great change in her life. After her wedding, she officially stopped being literary active and concealed her further production under pseudonyms, and in her work, she renounced her previous stand in favor of women's intellectual and literary emancipation, and promoted that women should renounce literary pursuits in favor of developing their character to be a suitable wife and mother: eventually, she stopped her production entirely.[1] Whether she was honest in this change of opinion, or used irony to make a point, has been the subject of debate.[1] Lenngren came to admire Rousseau, and may have come to support his ideas of the role of women in the 1780s, views which was further supported by the religious values of simplicity and humility in her childhood home.[1] Ingrid Arvidsson estimated that she had a deeply ambivalent view on the subject, affected by her personality: "The fact that Mrs L was hurt by criticism is evident in several of her poems, but she did also have the more unusual sensitivity of being hurt by admiration".[1]

After her marriage, she hosted a literary salon, which became a center of cultural debate and frequented by Gustaf af Leopold, Nils von Rosenstein, Frans Michael Franzén and Gudmund Jöran Adlerbeth.[1] During these years she is described as witty and intelligent but humble and modest.

Her spouse was described as "foremost known as useful and boring",[1] but reportedly, the marriage was a happy one, and she use to take him to the Utile Dulci Academy, where she was a member, and sing with him.[1] She had no children, but she adopted a daughter: her daughter was placed in a mental asylum, but died soon after her admission in 1797, an event which affected her deeply, as did the death of her father, who drowned under suspicious circumstances in 1798.[1]

In 1790, another great change occurred when Johan Henric Kellgren discontinued his literary production because of an illness.[1] This damaged the paper of her spouse and Anna Maria Lenngren resumed her contributions in Stockholms-Posten for financial reasons.[1] However, she insisted on staying anonymous and refused to officially resume her career, although unofficially her pseudonyms were known and she was known as the writer of the work which she published during these years, though she insisted on remaining officially anonymous.[1]

Her salon at Beridarebansgatan was the center of the Royal Swedish Academy, and though she was never a formal member, she was referred to by the academy as their "invisible member". On 20 December 1797, the Royal Swedish Academy celebrated her with the Ode till fru Lenngren ("Ode to Mrs Lenngren"), read by Gustaf Fredrik Gyllenborg. She declined their admiration with the poem Dröm ("Dream"), in which she described how Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht had appeared to her and deemed her unworthy.[1] However, she signed Dröm with her own name, the first work she signed with hr own name since her marriage, and it was also to be her last.[1]

Anna Maria Lenngren died of breast cancer, aged 62, and was interred in the Klara kyrka cemetery in Stockholm.

Literary career

Anna Maria Lenngren debuted as a writer of poems for funerals and weddings, and her earliest work has a tone of the ecstatic passion common in the religious circles of her father. This was however quickly replaced by a more sober tone in line with the scientific sense and realism of the age of enlightenment.

As a writer, Lenngren frequently used satire, sarcasm, and irony, and she often made parodied the genre of pastoral, opera and ballad.[1] Her verse was often short, portraying everyday life, almost always in a city environment, and she criticized artificiality and lack of genuine value behind the facade. Ideologically, she was inspired by her personal friend and colleague Johan Henric Kellgren, with whom she often worked from 1778 onward.[1] 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".[3]

Her successful early career during the 1770s was influenced by her feminist ideas, foremost her defense of women's right to participate and engage in intellectual work.[1] This is most evident in the forewords of her translation of Lucile (1776) and her poem Thé-conseillen (1777).[1]

The radical change in her views of women's role which took place in her work after her marriage in 1780 has been the subject of much debate. In her poem Några ord till min kära dotter, ifall jag hade någon ("Advice to my dear daughter, if I had one") and 'råden till Betti', she advice women to renounce intellectual aspirations and focus on shaping their character morally to that on an ideal wife and mother.[1] She advice women to concentrate on domestic tasks rather than attempt to meddle in intellectual or political pursuits, because "Our household is our Republic; our politics is our appearance".[4] She herself officially discontinued her career after her marriage by only publishing her works under anonymous pseudonyms and refusing to admit to them.[1] However, Anna Maria Lenngren is famed for her great love for irony, which has created uncertainty of she meant what she said literary or if she wished to prove her point by irony.[5] Her poem Dröm, which was given as a response to the admiration from the Academy in 1797, and in which she describe herself as unworthy, has also been interpreted as ironic in this regard.[1]

Anna Maria Lenngren was a supporter of the realistic and scientific views of the age on enlightenment and disliked religion, sometime interpreted as a protest of the religious environment of her childhood home.[1] She had a radical view upon the class system, opposed the privileges of the nobility and defended the rights of the "third estate" or working class against oppression.[1] She criticized 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.[6] Above all, she fought for the intellectual freedom of women; that also women should be allowed to have opinions.[6]

Her most known poems in regard to the class system is Hans nåds morgonsömn ("Morning prayer of His Grace") and Grevinnans besök ("Visit from the Countess"), in which she satirizes snobbism, and Pojkarne ("Boys"), in which she lament the fact that children of all classes can play with each other during their childhood, but that this solidarity and friendship is destroyed when they became adults and broke their bonds to people of different classes, and the popular Det blev ingen julgröt men ändå en glad julafton ("There was not oatmeal but still a happy Christmas"), in which she describe the effects of poverty.[1]

Legacy

Lenngren's tombstone at Klara kyrka in Stockholm

Anna Maria Lenngren is known as one of the most famed poets in the history of Sweden. Her production has made her one of the few 18th-century Swedish poets who are still commonly read,[1] and she has been published a number of times after her death during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

In accordance with her instructions, her collected poems were published after her death by her widower under the name Skaldeförsök ("Attempts at Poetry"). After its publication, the Royal Swedish Academy had a memorial medal made with the inscription: "The less she sought fame, the more she gained it".[4]

Her correspondence with her personal friend Gustaf af Leopold from 1795–98 has been published.[1]

In fiction

Anna Maria Lenngren is portrayed in the novel Pottungen ("Chamber-pot child") by Anna Laestadius Larsson from 2014, where she, alongside Ulrika Pasch, Ulrika Widström, Jeanna von Lantingshausen, Marianne Ehrenström and Sophie von Fersen, becomes a member in a Blue Stockings Society organized by the Queen of Sweden and Norway, Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp.

Works

Poems
Prose
Translations

See also

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Magnus von Platen. "Anna Maria Lenngren". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). urn:sbl:11226. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ann Öhrberg (2010). ""Fasa för all flärd, konstlan och förställning" Den ideala retorn inom 1700-talets nya offentlighet" (PDF). Samlaren (in Swedish). 131 (5): 38–85.
  3. ↑ Carin Österberg, Inga Lewenhaupt & Anna Greta Wahlberg (1990). Svenska kvinnor; föregångare, nyskapare [Swedish women; Predecessors, pioneers] (in Swedish). Lund: Signum. ISBN 9789187896033.
  4. 1 2 Herman Lindqvist (1997). Gustavs Dagar [History of Sweden: the Days of Gustav]. Historien om Sverige (in Swedish). 6. Norstedt. ISBN 9789119713728.
  5. ↑ Lars G. Warme, ed. (1996). A History of Swedish Literature. A History of Scandinavian Literatures. 3. University of Nebraska Press. p. 478. ISBN 9780803247505.
  6. 1 2 Stig Hadenius, Torbjörn Nilsson & Gunnar Åselius (1996). Sveriges historia. Vad varje svensk bör veta [History of Sweden. What every Swede should know] (in Swedish). Bonnier. ISBN 9134518576.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.