Charlotte Baden

Charlotte Baden (21 November 1740, Copenhagen – 6 June 1824, Copenhagen) was a Danish epistolary author and letter-writer. The majority of her work was published in periodicals, and often used a letter format to focus on the inner lives of women.

Baden is credited with established an epistolary literary tradition in Denmark, which was later developed by Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd and Mathilde Fibiger.

Career Baden's career as a writer stemmed from her practice as a letter writer. Her first language was German, and it is speculated that she learned Danish through writing letters. In addition to her contributions in the Bibliotek for det smukke Kiøn, Baden was also anonymously published work in Morgen-posten and Birchs Billedgallerie, contributing short stories.

When she was six, her father was stationed in Norway as a first lieutenant and her parents moved to Norway. Charlotte remained in Copenhagen and was instead brought up by her father's relative Anna Susanne von der Osten (1704–1773). Von der Osten was head lady-in-waiting to Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and was able to finance Charlotte's education and arrange for her care. For three and a half years, she resided with the Baroness von Sölenthal, before living at a pension institution in Nyborg for three years where she received a progressive education. She then resided with the Countess Sponneck for five years. When her parents returned to Denmark, Charlotte was about 18 years old and went to live with them. He often tutored his wife and she participated in some of his lectures on the Danish language. She and her husband had three children: Gustav Ludvig Baden (1764–1831), Torkel Baden (1765–1849), Jacob Baden (1768–1841). Gustav Ludvig became a judge and politician who authored around 75 works; Torkel became a professor of philology at the University of Copenhagen and authored over 100 scientific treatises; and their son Jacob was a lighthouse inspector. Charlotte Baden died on 6 June 1824 and was buried at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.