''Sophie'' Christina Mathilda Bolander (28 January 1807 – 2 June 1869), was a Swedish author. She is most famed for her participation in the contemporary debate on gender issues.

Life

Sophie Bolander was born in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, the daughter of the wealthy factory owner Gustav Erik Bolander (d. 1826) and Johanna Kristina Carlström. She never married. She lost her mother at an early age, and after the death of her father, she lived with her brother. She worked as a governess in the household of count Posse in 1838–1844, and as a music teacher in the ''

Kjellbergska flickskolan Kjellbergska flickskolan ('Kjellberg Girls' School') was a Single-sex education, Girls' School in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was active between 1835 and 1967. History The school was founded by a fund granted in the will of the wealthy merchant Jona ...

'' in 1845–1855.

Career

Her anti-aristocratic novel ''Trolldomstecknet'' (The Magic Sign) has been regarded as one of the first tendency novels in Sweden. During the 1850s, many of her novels were published as serials in papers such as ''

Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning'' (GHT) was a daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1832 to 1985. History and profile ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning'' was founded in 1832 by publisher Magnus Prytz and had ...

'', ''

Post- och Inrikes Tidningar ''Post- och Inrikes Tidningar'' () or ''PoIT'' is the government newspaper and gazette of Sweden, and the country's official notification medium for announcements like bankruptcy declarations or auctions. The newspaper also carries advertising, t ...

'' and ''

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid 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 Lar ...

''. Her novels were romance stories, often in a historical setting. Bolander is mostly known for her participation in the contemporary gender debate. Her writings focused on marriage and motherhood as the one and only true goal for a woman. She supported

Fredrika Bremer Fredrika Bremer (17 August 1801 – 31 December 1865) was a Finland, Finnish-born Sweden and Norway, Swedish Swedish literature, writer and feminism in Sweden, reformer. Her ''Sketches of Everyday Life'' were wildly popular in Britain and ...

in her critique of the shallow education of accomplishments for girls, and her demand that it should be replaced with a serious education more equal to that given to boys. However, in contrast to Bremer and the other reformists, Bolander did not support the idea that women should be given a serious education to prepare them for an emancipated life as independent professionals, but rather that they should be given a serious academic education because this would make them better wives and mothers. Fredrika Bremer remarked about this, that Sophie Bolander was only prepared to meet her halfway. However, Bolander was, in this respect, supporting a common view among contemporary moderate reformists. Her novel ''Qvinnan med förmyndare'' (Woman with Guardian) was a conservative response to the novel ''Qvinnan utan förmyndare'' (Woman without Guardian) by Amelie von Strussenfelt, which was a part of the contemporary debate about the minority of adult unmarried women, who were legally under the guardianship of their closest male relative.

Selected works

* »Tante Agnetas aftonberättelser» (1840) * »Qvinnan med förmyndare» (1842) * »Modern i hemmet» (1844) * »Trolldomstecknet» (1845)

References

Other sources

Sophie C M Bolander, urn:sbl:17900, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av E. Lindström.), hämtad 2015-05-08.

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