Wendela Hebbe

Wendela Hebbe (; 9 September 1808 – 27 August 1899), was a Swedish journalist, writer, and salon hostess. She was arguably the first permanently employed female journalist at a Swedish newspaper. She had a significant place in the radical literary circles of mid 19th-century Sweden and was a controversial role model for the emancipated woman.

Early life Wendela Hebbe was born in Jönköping. She was the eldest of three daughters of the parish vicar Anders Samuel Åstrand and Maria Lund. Her father was interested in literature and culture and raised his daughters to enjoy the same things as he, and as a child, she was encouraged to read and explore music, art and literature. She was described as talented within music and literature and nicknamed "Fröken Frågvis" ("Miss Inquisitive"). Esaias Tegnér was an acquaintance of her father and a common guest in their home. Reportedly, he courted Wendela unsuccessfully from an early age Women wrote articles and edited papers in the Swedish press at least since Margareta Momma in 1738, most of whom unidentified as they wrote under anonymous pseudonyms, but Wendela Hebbe was likely the first woman reporter to be given a permanent position at a Swedish newspaper and was in that sense a pioneer of her profession: it was not until the 19th-century that the Swedish press employed permanent staff, and Wendela Hebbe is the first woman found in the staff register of any Swedish paper.

Outside of her cultural activity, she was also active as a social reporter, and was in fact likely to have been the first reporter in Sweden to introduce social reportage in Sweden. Wendela Hebbe shared the liberal and humanitarian views of Aftonbladet at the time. Because of her sex she was considered suitable for "soft questions" such as the social misery among the poor, and she gained considerable attention with her first social reportage Biskopens besök (Visit from the Bishop) in 1843, a piece which contributed to the social debate that had begun around class-differences in Sweden around this time. By her reportage of social injustice, she managed on several occasions to draw the attention to areas in need of reform and assist people in need of help.

Literary career Wendela Hebbe retired as a journalist in 1851 to focus on a career as a novelist. Her debut novel Arabella was a conventional love novel, but her later novels are written in a more realistic style. Her novels focus on the intrigue as such rather than at the characters, and are strongly associated with her own time. She included social critic as a message in her novels, and were reportedly inspired by Dickens and British 18th-century literature.