Hansigne Lorenzen

Hansigne Caroline Marie Lorenzen (1870–1952)

Early life and family Born on 30 March 1870 in Bådsbel in the parish of Ballum, now in Tønder Municipality, Hansigne Caroline Marie Jenssen was the daughter of the teacher Jens Andersen Jenssen (1834–1907) and his wife Amma Margrethe née Abild (1833–96). She was brought up in a community which since 1864 had come under German rule but was still mainly Danish. When she was 14, four of her siblings died of diphtheria while her two older brothers emigrated to avoid conscription. Only she and her younger sister Hanne remained with their parents. In 1890, she married Hans Lorenzen (1862–1956), a teacher in her father's school. The couple had five children: Hans (1891), Anna (1893), Marie (1895), Jens (1897) and Catherine (1903).

To the swaying melody of the waves, white-clad maidens danced in circles and sequences on the open beach; soft and muted, but sweetly alluring like the plucking of golden strings on a mermaid’s harp, their song faded away into the light, clear summer night.

Published in 1911, her last novel Thøge is considered her most accomplished literary work.

Hanisgne Lorenzen died in Bådsbøl on 6 November 1952 and was buried in Ballum.