Lovisa Mathilda Roos (2 August 1852 – 17 July 1908), also known under the pen name M. Rs., was a Swedish writer.

Biography

Lovisa Mathilda Roos was born 2 August 1852 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Her parents were Malte Leopold Roos (1806–1882), a colonel at

Svea Artillery Regiment The Svea Artillery Regiment (), designation A 1, was a Swedish Army artillery regiment that traced its origins back to the 17th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from Svealand, and it was also gar ...

, and Mathilda (Tilda) Beata Meurk (born 1821). She was educated at home and at

Åhlinska skolan Åhlinska skolan (Åhlin School), or Åhlinska flickskolan (Åhlin Girls' School), was a girls' school in Stockholm, Sweden. Active from 1847 to 1939, it was one of the first schools in Sweden that offered serious academic education to female stu ...

. Remaining unmarried, she lived with his sister Anna and sometimes also with Laura Fitinghoff, with whom she built the Furuliden house in

Stocksund Stocksund () is an upper-class suburb in Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden. Located immediately across the Edsviken and Stocksundet from Bergshamra, Stocksund is one of four parts of Danderyd Municipality north of Stockholm, which is the mos ...

, which later became, as she had hoped, a rest home for women. Roos was a member of the women's association

Nya Idun ('New Idun') is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". Activity was founded ...

and one of its first committee members. Roos' novels usually dealt with women's issues and their unfair treatment in society. She was not afraid to address sensitive subjects at that time including lesbian love in (The First Love). A religious crisis in the 1880s affected her later books. In the novel (White Heather), she takes up the unclear living conditions of a teacher and rape. This is considered to have contributed to a government decision that greatly improved teachers' salaries. In women's political pamphlets, she addressed

Ellen Key Ellen Karolina Sofia Key (; 11 December 1849 – 25 April 1926) was a Swedes, Swedish difference feminist writer on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education and was an important figure in the Modern Breakthrough movement. S ...

's ideas, (A word to Miss Ellen Key and to the Swedish woman), 1896. Roos died 17 July 1908, in

Danderyd Danderyd Municipality (; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is located within Sto ...

Selected works

;Fiction * , 1881. * , 1883. * , 1884. * , 1886. * , 1887. * , 1888. * , 1889. * , 1890. * , 1891. * , 1891. * , 1892. * , 1896. * , 1896. * , 1896. * , 1897. * , 1898. * , 1898. * , 1903–1904. * , 1906. * , 1907. * , 1907. * , 1908. * , 1909. ;For children and young readers * , 1891. Illustrated by

Jenny Nyström Jenny Eugenia Nyström (13 or 15 June 1854 in Kalmar, Sweden – 17 January 1946 in Stockholm) was a painter and illustrator mainly known as the creator of the Swedish image of the '' jultomte'' on Christmas cards and magazine covers, thus ...

. * , 1892. * , 1893. * , 1893. * , 1893. * , 1894. Illustrated by Jenny Nyström. * , 1894. * , 1894. * , 1895. * , 1898. * , 1898. * , 1898. * , 1901. * , 1905. Illustrated by Jenny Nyström.

References

Bibliography

* Heggestad, Eva (1991). Uppsala: Avd. för litteratursociologi vid Litteraturvetenskapliga institutionen, Univ.
Förbjuden, olycklig kärlek

''

Svenskt författarlexikon , subtitled , is a Swedish biobibliographical dictionary of Swedish-language authors published by Rabén & Sjögren between 1942 and 1981, covering the years 1900–1975 in seven parts in ten volumes. The first part in three volumes was publish ...

: biobibliografisk handbok till Sveriges moderna litteratur''. , 1900–1940 Stockholm:

Rabén & Sjögren Rabén & Sjögren is a book publishing company in Sweden. It was established in 1942 by and . Since 1998 it has been part of Norstedts förlag. The publishing focus is on children's and youth literature. Rabén & Sjögren was very successful, p ...

. 1942. pp. 677–678.

External links

Mathilda Roos
at

Swedish Literature Bank The Swedish Literature Bank is a non-profit organisation whose objective is making classic Swedish literature and literary criticism freely available in digital editions. It is a collaboration between the Swedish Academy, the National Library of S ...