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Amalie Skram

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Pen name
  
Amalie Mueller

Name
  
Amalie Skram

Occupation
  
novelist

Role
  
Author

Nationality
  
Norwegian

Children
  
Ludvig Muller

Literary movement
  
Naturalism


Amalie Skram Amalie Skram Gyldendal Den Store Danske

Died
  
March 15, 1905, Copenhagen, Denmark

Movies
  
Lucie, The Guardians, Agnete, Ekteskap

Spouse
  
Erik Skram (m. 1884), Bernt Ulrik August Muller (m. 1864)

Parents
  
Mons Monsen Alver, Ingeborg Lovise Sivertsen

Books
  
Constance Ring, Forraadt, Lucie, Fru Ines, Under Observation

Amalie skram ferdig


Amalie Skram (22 August 1846 – 15 March 1905) was a Norwegian author and feminist who gave voice to a woman's point of view with her naturalist writing. She moved to Denmark in 1894 where she settled in Copenhagen with her husband, the Danish writer Erik Skram. She is considered the most important female writer of the Modern Breakthrough.

Contents

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram Gyldendal Den Store Danske

Norges litteratur og spr khistorie amalie skram 7 13


Early life

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram Store norske leksikon

Berthe Amalie Alver was born in Bergen, Norway. Her parents were Mons Monsen Alver and Ingeborg Lovise Sivertsen.

Amalie Skram Samfunnsstormeren Amalie Skram forskningno

Amalie had 4 brothers. Her parents operated a small business, which went bankrupt when Amalie was 17 years old. Her father emigrated from Norway to the United States to avoid a term of imprisonment and her mother was left with five children to care for.

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram photos Deputy in a bonnet

Her mother pressured Amalie into a marriage with an older man, Bernt Ulrik August Müller (1837–1898), a ship captain, later mill owner. Following thirteen years of marriage and the birth of two sons she suffered a nervous breakdown, in part attributed to his infidelity. After several years in a mental hospital, she was divorced from Müller. Together with her two sons, she moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) and began her literary activities. There she met the Bohemian community, including writers Arne Garborg and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, with whom she remained in contact for many years.

Move to Denmark

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram photos Deputy in a bonnet

In 1884 Amalie Müller married again, this time the Danish writer Erik Skram (1847–1923), a son of railroad director Gustav Skram. She moved to Copenhagen, Denmark with her new husband. They had a daughter from this union. Her obligations as housewife, mother and author as well as the public's limited acceptance for her then-radical work, led to a further breakdown in 1894, after which Amalie lived in a psychiatric hospital near Roskilde. In 1900 her second marriage was dissolved. She died six years later in Copenhagen.

Literary career

Amalie Skram httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

In 1882 Amalie Skram debuted (as Amalie Müller) with the short story "Madam Høiers leiefolk", published in the magazine Nyt Tidsskrift. Her work continued until her death. She dealt with topics she knew well.

Her work can be divided into three categories:

  • Novels concerning marriage, which explored taboo topics such as female sexuality, and the subservient status of women in that period. These works were perceived by many as overly provocative and resulted in open hostility from some segments of society.
  • Multi-generation novels, which dealt with the fate of a family over several generations. With these she explored the social institutions and conditions of the time and campaigned for change.
  • Mental hospital works such as Professor Hieronimus and Paa St. Jørgen, which dealt with the primitive and brutal conditions of such institutions of the period. Her novels created a major stir in Denmark and precipitated improvements in these institutions.
  • She is recognized as an early and strong proponent of what has come to be known as the women's movement, setting the early European trend. Her works, which had been generally forgotten with her death, were rediscovered and received strong recognition in the 1960s. Several of her works are currently available in recent translations to English.

    Subsequent recognition

    The Amalie Skram-prisen or Amalie Skram prize is a travel stipend that has been awarded annually since 1994 to Norwegian authors who show exceptional skill in addressing women's issues. A statue of Skram, by Maja Refsum (1897–1986), was unveiled at Convent Garden (Klosterhaugen) in Bergen 1949. A marble bust by Ambrosia Tønnesen (1859–1948) is in Bergen Public Library. She was also honored with a Norwegian postage stamp in 1996.

    References

    Amalie Skram Wikipedia