Louise Bjørnsen

Louise Cathrine Elisabeth Bjørnsen, pen name Elisabeth Martens, (1824–1899) was successful as an early Danish female novelist and short story writer. Following in the footsteps of Mathilde Fibiger, she published her first novel Hvad er Livet? (What is Life?) in 1855, based on her own experiences as a governess. She went on to write five more novels and four collections of short stories.

Biography Born on 9 April 1824 in Roholte near Faxe, Louise Cathrine Elisabeth Bjørnsen was the daughter of the parish priest Frederik Cornelius Eberhard Bjørnsen (1781–1831) and his wife Rebekka Adolphine née Rabe-Holm (1786–1858).

Later publications included En Kvinde (A Woman, 1860), Tre Fortællinger (Three Short Stories, 1866), Hvad behøves der for at leve? (What is needed in order to live? Portraits, 1869), Sangerinden (The Songstress, 1876), Fra Fortid og Nutid, en Samling Fortællinger (From the Past and Present, a Collection of Short Stories, 1878) and Skibldner (1883). She also contributed to journals and magazines.

Following her mother's death in 1858, Louise Bjørnsen spent her later years in Copenhagen where she died on 27 December 1899.