Selma Lagerlof Biography

Selma Lagerlof Biography Selma Lagerlf Facts Known for:  writer of literature, especially novels, with themes both romantic and moral; noted for moral dilemmas and religious or supernatural themes.  First  woman, and first Swede, to win the  Nobel Prize for Literature. Dates:  November 20, 1858 - March 16, 1940 Occupation: writer, novelist; teacher 1885-1895 Also Known as: Selma Lagerlof, Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlà ¶f, Selma Otti Lagerlà ¶f Early Life Born in Vrmland (Varmland), Sweden, Selma Lagerlà ¶f grew up on the small estate of Mà ¥rbacka, owned by her paternal grandmother Elisabet Maria Wennervik, who had inherited it from her mother. Charmed by her grandmothers stories, reading widely, and educated by governesses, Selma Lagerlà ¶f was motivated to become a writer. She wrote some poems and a play. Financial reversals and her fathers drinking, plus her own lameness from a childhood incident where shed lost use of her legs for two years, led to her becomind depressed. The writer Anna Frysell took her under her wing, helping Selma decide to take a loan to finance her formal education. Education After a year of preparatory school Selma Lagerlà ¶f entered the Womens Higher Teacher Training College in Stockholm. She graduated three years later, in 1885. At school, Selma Lagerlà ¶f read many of the nineteenth centurys important writers Henry Spencer, Theodore Parker, and Charles Darwin among them and questioned the faith of her childhood, developing a faith in the goodness and morality of God but largely giving up traditional Christian dogmatic beliefs. Starting Her Career The same year that she graduated, her father died, and Selma Lagerlà ¶f moved to the town of Landskrona to live with her mother and aunt and to begin teaching. She also began writing in her spare time. By 1890, and encouraged by Sophie Adler Sparre, Selma Lagerlà ¶f published a few chapters of Gà ¶sta Berlings Saga in a journal, winning a prize that enabled her to leave her teaching position to finish the novel, with its themes of beauty versus duty and joy versus good. The novel was published the next year, to disappointing reviews by the major critics. But its reception in Denmark encouraged her to continue with her writing. Selma Lagerlà ¶f then wrote Osynliga lnkar (Invisible Links), a collection including stories about medieval Scandinavia as well as some with modern settings. Sophie Elkan The same year, 1894, that her second book was published, Selma Lagerlà ¶f met Sophie Elkan, also a writer, who became her friend and companion, and, judging from the letters between them that survive, with whom she fell deeply in love. Over many years, Elkan and Lagerlà ¶f critiqued each others work. Lagerlà ¶f wrote to others of Elkans strong influence on her work, often disagreeing sharply with the direction Lagerlà ¶f wanted to take in her books. Elkan seems to have become jealous of Lagerlà ¶fs success later. Full Time Writing By 1895, Selma Lagerlà ¶f gave up her teaching completely to devote herself to her writing. She and Elkan, with the help of proceeds from Gà ¶sta Berlings Saga and a scholarship and grant, traveled to Italy. There, a legend of a Christ Child figure that had been replaced with a false version inspired Lagerlà ¶fs next novel, Antikrists mirakler, where she explored the interplay between Christian and socialist moral systems. Selma Lagerlà ¶f moved in 1897 to Falun, and there met Valborg Olander, who became her literary assistant, friend, and associate. Elkans jealousy of Olander was a complication in the relationship. Olander, a teacher, was also active in the growing woman suffrage movement in Sweden. Selma Lagerlà ¶f continued to write, especially on medieval supernatural and religious themes. Her two part novel Jerusalem brought more public acclaim. Her stories published as Kristerlegender (Christ Legends) were received favorably both by those whose faith was rooted firmly in the Bible and by those who read the Bible stories as myth or legend. The Voyage of Nils In 1904, Lagerlà ¶f and Elkan toured Sweden extensively as Selma Lagerlà ¶f began work on an unusual textbook: a Swedish geography and history book for children, told as a legend of a naughty boy whose travels on the back of a goose help him become more responsible. Published as Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Voyage of Nils Holgersson), this text came to be used in many Swedish schools. Some criticism for scientific inaccuracies inspired revisions of the book. In 1907, Selma Lagerlà ¶f discovered her familys former home, Mà ¥rbacka, was for sale, and in terrible condition. She bought it and spent some years refurbishing it and buying back the surrounding land. Nobel Prize and Other Honors In 1909 Selma Lagerlà ¶f was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She continued to write and publish. In 1911 she was awarded an honorary doctorate, and in 1914 she was elected to the Swedish Academy the first woman so honored. Social Reform In 1911, Selma Lagerlà ¶f spoke at the International Alliance for Female Suffrage. During World War I, she maintained her stance as a pacifist. Her discouragement about the war diminished her writing in those years, as she put more effort into pacifist and feminist causes. Silent Films In 1917, the director Victor Sjà ¶strà ¶m began to film some of the works of Selma Lagerlà ¶f. This resulted in silent films in every year from 1917 to 1922. In 1927, Gà ¶sta Berlings saga was filmed, with Greta Garbo in a major role. In 1920, Selma Lagerlà ¶f had a new house built at Mà ¥rbacka. Her companion, Elkan, died in 1921 before the construction was completed. In the 1920s, Selma Lagerlà ¶f published her Là ¶wenskà ¶ld trilogy, and then she began publishing her memoirs. Resistance Against Nazis In 1933, in Elkans honor, Selma Lagerlà ¶f donated one of her Christ legends for publication to earn money to support Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, resulting in German boycotts of her work. She actively supported the Resistance against the Nazis. She helped support efforts to get German intellectuals out of Nazi Germany, and was instrumental in getting a visa for the poet Nelly Sachs, preventing her deportation to the concentration camps. In 1940, Selma Lagerlà ¶f donated her gold medal for war relief for the Finnish people while Finland was defending itself against the Soviet Unions aggression. Death and Legacy Selma Lagerlà ¶f died on March 16, 1940, some days after sufering a cerebral hemorrhage. Her letters were sealed for fifty years after her death. In 1913, critic Edwin Bjà ¶rkman wrote of her work: We know that Selma Lagerlà ¶fs brightest fairy raiments are woven out of what to the ordinary mind seem like the most commonplace patches of everyday life and we know as well that when she tempts us into far-off, fantastical worlds of her own making, her ultimate object is to help us see the inner meanings of the too often over-emphasized superficial actualities of our own existence. Selected Selma Lagerlof Quotations Strange, when you ask anyones advice you see yourself what is right. It is a strange thing to come home. While yet on the journey, you cannot at all realize how strange it will be. There isnt much that tastes better than praise from those who are wise and capable. For what is a mans soul but a flame? It flickers in and around the body of a man as does the flame around a rough log.