''Aurora'' Lovisa Ljungstedt (, Hjort; pseudonym, Claude Gérard; 2 September 1821 – 21 February 1908), was a Swedish writer. She is regarded to be the first crime novel author of her country and has been referred to as Sweden's Edgar Allan Poe.

Life

Aurora Lovisa Hjort was born 2 September 1821, in

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

. She was the eldest of four children of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Georg Leonard Hjort (1788–1872) and Fredrika Elisabeth Alf (1792–1877). In 1846, she married Samuel Viktor Ljungstedt (1820–1904), an official in the prison care bureau, and settled in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. She had three children. Ljungstedt displayed talent early on but her mother disapproved of a literary career as unsuitable as this would make her a public person. After having married, she was free to write with the support of her spouse. She debuted in the 1840s, and wrote anonymously until her pseudonym was unintentionally exposed in the 1870s. Her crime novels were very successful in Sweden and were also translated to French and Danish. She was inspired by Eugéne Sue and

Edward Bulwer Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

and wrote crime novels in the then fashionable sensationalist horror style, often with

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

phenomena. Ljungstedt died on 21 February 1908 in Stockholm.

Bibliography

Serials

*''Dagdrifverier och drömmerier'' 1857 in ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan Hi ...

'' *''En jägares historier'' 1860–1861 in ''

Nya Dagligt Allehanda ''Nya Dagligt Allehanda'' (New Daily Everywhere), also known as the ''NDA'' was a Swedish conservative-leaning newspaper published in Stockholm from 1859 to 1944. History The ''Nya Dagligt Allehanda'' was founded as a continuation of another n ...

'' *''Skymningsprat'' 1864 in Nya Dagligt Allehanda *''Psykologiska gåtor'' 1868 in Nya Dagligt Allehanda *''Onkel Benjamins album'' 1870 in Nya Dagligt Allehanda *''Jernringen'' 1871 in Nya Dagligt Allehanda *''Moderna typer'' 1872 in Nya Dagligt Allehanda *''Den svarta kappan'' 1872 in

Svenska Familj-Journalen Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

*''Inom natt och år'' 1875 in Aftonbladet *''Hvardagsliv'' 1877 in Aftonbladet *''Gröna Blad'' 1877 in Aftonbladet *''Den tomma rymden'' 1878 in Aftonbladet

Books

*''Hin ondes hus'' 1853 (pseud Richard) *''Psykologiska gåtor'' 1868 *''Samlade berättelser'': # ''Dagdrifverier och drömmerier'' och ''En jägares historier'' 1872 # ''Skymningsprat'' 1872 # ''Onkel Benjamins album'' 1873 # ''Jernringen'' 1873 # ''Psykologiska gåtor'' 1873 # ''Moderna typer'' 1874 # ''Inom natt och år'' 1876 # ''Hvardagslif'' och ''Gröna blad'' 1878 # ''Diverse berättelser'' 1882: "Den tomma rymden", "Svarta kappan", "Gnistor i mörkret", "Tönne Rolf", "Små salongsstycken" *''Mr. Webb: reseskizz'' 1873 *''Linné i Uppsala och Amsterdam'' 1878 *''Soldaten Blå: historisk skizz från Gustaf IV Adolfs tid'' 1879 *''Onkel Benjamins album'' (ny upplaga) 1903 *''Två sällsamma berättelser'' (delvis omarbetad upplaga av "En gubbes minnen" och "Harolds skugga" från ''En jägares historier'') 2002 *''Hastfordska vapnet'' (fristående långnovell eller kortroman från ''Onkel Benjamins album'') 2006

Sources

Aurora L Ljungstedt, urn:sbl:9625, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Sven Erik Täckmark), hämtad 2015-11-08.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungstedt, Aurora 1821 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Swedish women writers 19th-century Swedish writers Swedish horror writers