Merete Ries
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Merete Jul Ries (11 October 1938 – 25 May 2018) was a Danish publisher and editor. She entered the publishing literature when she joined the
Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...
publishing house in 1966 and served as its publishing editor from 1968 until she was made redundant in 1980. Ries was an editor at the publishing house between 1981 and 1982 and then established the publishing house in 1982. She established a Danish news magazine called ''OMverden'' in 1991 and was an editor from 1993 to 2001, working on ''
The History of Nordic Women's Literature ''The History of Nordic Women's Literature'' ( Danish: ''Nordisk kvindelitteraturhistorie'', Swedish: ''Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria'') is a print and online encyclopedia and biographical dictionary about female Nordic authors. The original ...
'' and ''
Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon ''Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon'' ("Biographical Encyclopedia of Danish Women") is a collection of over 1,900 biographies of Danish women from the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approxi ...
''.


Biography

She was born Merete Jul Ries in Copenhagen on 11 October 1938. She is the daughter of the haulage driver Martin Jul Jensen and the nurse Inger Else Fenneberg. Ries was brought up by her mother. In 1957, she enrolled at the and then studied Danish at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
. She interrupted her education when she relocated to England and got married. She went back to Denmark with her young child in 1966, and found employment working as a substitute teacher at a primary school. That same year, Ries came into contact with the author and childhood friend , and began her career in the publishing industry by joining the
Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...
publishing house. Two years later, she became Gyldenadal's publishing editor. Ries earned the reputation of a "down-to-earth and committed and to sometimes loudspeaker employee". In 1972, she entered into the world of women's literature and was instrumental in getting the first neo-feminist novel ''Hvad tænkte egentlig Arendse'' written by published. Ries was sacked from Gyldenadal in 1980 as part of an austerity measure at the publishing house with 41 authors writing an open letter in protest of the decision. From 1981 to 1982, she worked at the publishing house as an editor. Ries established the publishing house at her home in
Charlottenlund Charlottenlund is a suburban area on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the administrative seat of Gentofte Municipality. Bordered to the east by the Øresund, to the South by Hellerup and to the north by Klampenborg, it is one of the ...
as a private limited company in 1982. Soon several publications contributed to the positive reputation of the publishing house, and it became internationally known when the
Peter Høeg Peter Høeg (born 17 May 1957) is a Danish writer of fiction. He is best known for his novel ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (1992). Early life Høeg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before becoming a writer, he worked variously as a sailor, ...
book ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' was published in 1992. She also made the people of Denmark become familiar with the authors
Jens Christian Grøndahl Jens Christian Grøndahl (born 9 November 1959 in Lyngby) is a Danish writer. His novel ''An Altered Light'' was shortlisted for the 2006 International Dublin Literary Award. In 1998 he won the Danish booksellers award De Gyldne Laurbær (The G ...
,
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and
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. In 1987, Ries won the , and also translated the works of authors such as
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
, Virginia Wolff,
Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse ( ; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German–American philosopher, social critic, and Political philosophy, political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at ...
and
Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...
. Ries became editor-in-chief of the publishing publisher Forlaget Munksgaard in collaboration with her own publishing house Rosinante & Co in 1989. In 1991, she set up the Danish news magazine ''OMverden'' focused on politics. Ries edited the five-volume series ''
The History of Nordic Women's Literature ''The History of Nordic Women's Literature'' ( Danish: ''Nordisk kvindelitteraturhistorie'', Swedish: ''Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria'') is a print and online encyclopedia and biographical dictionary about female Nordic authors. The original ...
'' from 1993 to 1998, and ''
Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon ''Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon'' ("Biographical Encyclopedia of Danish Women") is a collection of over 1,900 biographies of Danish women from the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approxi ...
'' in 2000 and 2001. She served as chair of the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...
's literature committee from 1993 to 1994, in which she oversaw the establishment of three years later. In 1998, Ries re-purchased the Rosinante & Co publishing house from Munksgaard, where she became Munksgaard's literary director, and then merged it into Gyldendal in the same year. She served as director Rosinante Forlag A / S with Gyldendal as co-owner between 1999 and 2002 and as the sole owner from 2000. Between 2003 and 2014, Ries operated her own publishing house which was called Ries Forlag that published a few books per year.


Personal life

She was first married to the lecturer Paul R. from 1963 to 1967. Ries had her only child during the marriage. In 1973, she married again, to the department head Jørgen Jakobsen. Ries died on the morning of 25 May 2018.


Analysis

Jakob Malling Lambert described Ries as having a "special ability to find the right word, which manifested itself in a bubbly humor and a sharp tongue. And then she rarely had a nose for literature and a sense of language." Michael Hertz in Ries' entry in the ''
Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon ''Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon'' ("Biographical Encyclopedia of Danish Women") is a collection of over 1,900 biographies of Danish women from the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approxi ...
'' writes that she did not "make populism her religion" and she supported "the elite culture" and allowed the market to be left to "entertainment literature to others who are more skilled than she is in that field.".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ries, Merete 1938 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Danish women educators 20th-century Danish educators 20th-century Danish women writers 21st-century Danish women Chief executives in the publishing industry University of Copenhagen alumni Women book publishers (people) Women print editors Writers from Copenhagen