Martha Christensen

Martha Johanne Christensen (1926–1995) was a Danish writer and educator. Around 1950, she contributed poems and short stories to the journal Vild Hvede but it was not until 1962 that she published her first novel Vær god ved Remond (Be Good to Remond) about the difficulties faced by a boy sent to an institution after his mother remarried. Like her later novels, it brings out the failures of social support. She is remembered in particular for Dansen med Regitze (Dancing with Regitze, 1987) telling the story of a married woman who valiantly approaches her death. In 1989, it was made into the award-winning film Waltzing Regitze. Her story of abandoned children Når mor kommer hjem (When Mother Comes Home) also led to a movie in 1995.

Early life Born on 12 June 1926 in Holsted in the west of Jutland, Martha Christensen was the daughter of the master smith Anders Christian Christensen (1878–1959) and his wife Johanne née Vinding (1892–1961). After completing her realskole education, she first attended a business school then embarked on a teachers' training course. She took a specialist course for early childhood educators and preschool teachers.