Ellen Rydelius

Ellen Rydelius (27 February, 1885 – 1 April, 1957) was a Swedish translator and writer. She wrote a large number of guide books to major cities and several cookbooks but her major works are translations of Russian novels. In particular, she is remembered for her translation into Swedish of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov.

Biography Born on 27 February 1885 in Norrköping, Rydelius was the daughter of Per Axel Rydelius, a merchant, and Anna Vilhelmina Ström. After matriculating from Stockholm's Lyceum för flickor (girls high school) in 1903, she graduated in English and Romance languages at Uppsala University. Thereafter she spent half a year in Russia studying the language, returning home when her father died. She went on to earn her living as a journalist, working for the two main national daily newspapers, Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter before turning freelance. Her daughter Ria Wägner travelled together with her. In the 1940s, when travel was no longer possible, she turned to cookbooks, building on the gastronomic summaries in her guides. They included Billiga dagar i franskt kök (Cheap Days in French Cooking, 1940) and Billiga dagar i italienskt kök (Cheap Days in Italian Cooking, 1941). Finally, she wrote historical works about Russia, books about Swedish women, and two autobiographical works.