Bodil Bech

Bodil Adele Vilhelmine Bech (1889–1942) was a Danish writer who is remembered principally for her poetry. It was not until 1934 that she published her first book, the poetry collection Vi der ejer natten (We who own the night). She associated with the surrealist writers and artists who contributed to the literary journals Konkretion and Linien. Bech went on to publish further works of poetry as well as the novel Lones Balkanfærd (Lone's Balkan Trip), for which she used the pen name Anna Fole. Her poetry broke the conventions of the time, expressing unfulfilled desire and missed conjugal happiness in terms of the painful cosmic mystery of sexuality.

Early life, education and family Born on 13 March 1889 in Nørre Broby on the island of Funen, Bodil Adele Vilhelmine Bech was the daughter of the estate owner Hans Bech (1861–1922) and his wife Juliane Filippa Camilla née Jensen (1863–1923). She was brought up in a well-to-do home in central Funen. After a year at the Danish business school, she moved to New York where she spent five years studying piano at the New York College of Music. Bech was married twice, first in 1910 with the civil engineer Holger Lauritz Petersen Varder (1877–1910). The marriage was dissolved in 1917. Then in April 1917, she married the art historian Poul Uttenreitter (1886–1956). The marriage was dissolved in 1921.