Janken Wiel-Hansen

Johanne Sofie Wiel-Hansen was born on 11 July 1868 to Julie and Wilhelm Hansen, in the Norwegian town of Fredrikshald (now known as Halden), on the border with Sweden.^[3] An industrial border town, it had many international trading contacts. Her father belonged to one of the town's wealthy patrician families, who were involved in shipping and trading in timber products. He had trained as a forester in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria where he met and married Juliane Catharina Josepha (Julie) Steigerwald. The couple moved to Fredrikshald. Johanne Sofie had two younger siblings, Anni and Wilhelm. During her childhood, the family moved several times between Norway and Sweden, eventually settling in Stockholm where her father died early in 1886, when she was in her early twenties.^[4]

Less than a year after her father's death, Janken Wiel-Hansen had found employment at P.A. Norstedt & Sons, Sweden's oldest publishing house. She was one of the first women to work for the company, and worked there for 25 years as a clerk and cash sales manager, and was later remembered as "vital, very humorous".^[4] Both her younger siblings also found work at the publishing house within a few years.^[4]

Wiel-Hansen changed her name to Janken Wiel-Hansen sometime in the early 1900s, and was referred to by Janken in the Swedish media in the spring of 1906.^[4] In 1905, she applied for Swedish citizenship.^[4]

Janken Wiel-Hansen was reported to have inherited her interest in sport from her father. In addition to fencing, she enjoyed cycling, gymnastics, horse riding, rowing, sailing, skiing and skating. At the age of 30, Janken Wiel-Hansen first encountered fencing, which she believed was the ultimate sport for women. She took her first fencing lessons in 1903 from the French fencing master Eugène Filiol, who ran a salle d'armes on Sturegatan street in Stockholm.^[5] In the summers of 1904 and 1905 she studied fencing in England and France. In 1906 she took part in the international fencing competitions in Tourcoing winning first prize, and became an international champion, which made an impression on the press at home.^[4] In Sweden, fencing had until then been an exclusively male sport, primarily for officers. But in Europe, especially in England, fencing had many female practitioners. Filiol was the one who introduced modern fencing to Sweden and also taught women, which was something completely new. In the summers of 1904 and 1905, Janken Wiel-Hansen trained in fencing at various schools in London and Paris.^[5]

In 1905, she founded the Stockholms Kvinnliga Fäktklubb (Stockholm Women's Fencing Club), where she remained a leader for the rest of her life.^[6] The club was one of Stockholm's first sports clubs for women.^[4] Wiel-Hansen's strong arguments about the benefits of fencing, and her international success in the field, contributed to the sport gaining acceptance as a suitable sport for women. It was seen by contemporaries as having grace, calmness and an aesthetic value, although the press and male fencing clubs took a somewhat cavalier attitude to women's fencing. In 1929, Wiel-Hansen and two men were awarded the Swedish Fencing Federation's highest honour, a gold shield, the first time the honour was awarded.^[2][7]

In addition to fencing, social activities were an important part of the Stockholms Kvinnliga Fäktklubb. Parlour rooms were set up alongside the fencing rooms. Tea parties, soirees and theatre performances were part of the club's programme. Both working people and housewives met here to relax, although many members came from the upper classes of society. Crown Princess Margareta, who was interested in sport, was an honorary member.^[2]

Severe rheumatism meant that Wiel-Hansen had to retire from working life at just over 40 years of age. Despite this, her involvement in the fencing club continued. During good periods, she was able to fence and she continued to instruct. At times this had to be done from a wheelchair. The Stockholm Women's Fencing Club closed shortly after Wiel-Hansen's death, and became part of the larger, male organisation Föreningen för Fäktkonstens Främjande.^[4]

Wiel-Hansen enjoyed performing on stage and was a regular actor, not only in the fencing club's productions but also in theatre productions of the Nya Idun Society, of which she was a member.^[4] She often played male roles.^[4] Wiel-Hansen's surviving photo albums contain pictures of her posing as a fencer, as Napoleon and as a Bavarian youth in Tyrolean costume with a pipe in her mouth. These plays were written by Janken Wiel-Hansen's life partner, Ida von Plomgren, also a successful fencer. Ida von Plomgren was active in feminist circles and employed by the Fredrika Bremer Association. Wiel-Hansen was also a member of the association.^[4]