Kamma Rahbek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Writer
- lady of letters
Kamma Rahbek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 19 October 1775 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 21 January 1829 (aged 53) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Resting place | Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård, Copenhagen |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Salons |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Adam Oehlenschläger (brother-in-law) |
Karen Margrethe "Kamma" Rahbek (née Heger; 19 October 1775 – 21 January 1829) was a Danish writer, salonist and lady of letters.[1]
Karen Margrethe Rahbek was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the daughter of the official Hans Heger (1747–1819) and Anne Louise Drewsen (1751–1799). She grew up in a wealthy home in Nørregade. She received a broad based education and could speak several languages including German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Italian. She had translated Homer and learned the piano. Her drawing lessons had been delivered by Bertel Thorvalsen. Thorvalsen became a noted Danish-Icelandic sculptor.[2]
In 1798, she married the writer Knud Lyne Rahbek (1760–1830). Her husband was a writer, poet, literary historian and magazine editor.[3]
Her salon at Bakkehuset became a cultural centre and the gathering place for the writers of the Danish Golden age and was considered the salon of the middle class in contrast to the more aristocratic Friederike Brun and Charlotte Schimmelmann.[4]
Among her guests were Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger, who was married to her sister Christiane (1782–1841). Other notable visitors included Jens Baggesen, Sophie Ørsted, Poul Martin Møller, N. F. S. Grundtvig, B. S. Ingemann, H. C. Andersen, Peter Oluf Brøndsted and Johan Ludvig Heiberg. Rahbek befriended the writers of the Romantic style, while her spouse preferred the moralists.[5][6][7]
Rahbek was also a diligent writer. Several of her letters and memories have been published. In fact, at the time, it was the fashion to write letters to friends even though you saw them several times a week. The letters were intended to be shared. Her regular correspondents included the Bishop of Zealand Jacob Peter Mynster, Christian Pram, Adolph Engelbert Boye (1784 - 1851) and the poet and librarian Christian Molbech. Mynster provided advice on a her faith, but Molbech became too needy and she ended the correspondence.[2]
Rahbek died in 1829 at Frederiksberg and was buried in Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård.[8]
In popular culture
- Kamma Rahbek (Karen Lykkehus) appears in Jeg har elsket og levet, a 1940 romantic musical about the composer C. E. F. Weyse directed by George Schnéevoigt, Kamma Rahbek.
- In 2011, Kamma, a biographical novel by Maria Helleberg, was published.
- Her silhouette is used as the logo for Wikipedia's Women in Red initiative.[9]
