Tove Ditlevsen

Tove Ditlevsen (1917-1976) was one of the most notable Danish literary personalities of the twentieth century. She enjoyed great popularity as a writer of both poetry and prose. She used her poor upbringing, her fragile psyche, and her long-standing problems with love and narcotics as sources of inspiration for her writing. The result was a long list of unique, honest, uncompromising works with which readers continue to identify. She won a score of literary prizes.

Ditlevsen wrote more than 35 books, including Barndommens Gade (The Street of Childhood) which is part of the Danish literary canon. In a poll of all-time best-loved Danish books by Danish readers in 1999, this book came in at number 21. Her early books were a critical portrayal of growing up in poverty. Later works revealed her as a strong voice for women’s rights and female independence. Her poetry, especially Kvindesind and Pigesind (Woman’s Mind and Girl’s Mind) were popular with supporters of the feminist movement. Some of her works, such as Ansigterne (The Faces) draw from her personal experiences with treatment for psychiatric conditions. Only a handful of her books have been translated and published in English. Dependency is considered by some to be her greatest work.

Ditlevsen was born and raised in a very poor section of Copenhagen. When she married a well-known publisher who was thirty years older, it was a way for her out of poverty, and a springboard to a life in other strata of society. Although their marriage was short-lived, it gave Ditlevsen time and self-confidence for her writing, and she was received with immediate popularity. Unfortunately she also suffered from anxiety, and she was hospitalized several times for nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts. During her two subsequent marriages, her mental state continued to decline. Although she continued to write, eventually she became addicted to Demerol through the willingness of her second husband, a doctor, to give her injections on demand. She had three children, one of them adopted. Five years after the publication of Dependency, her penultimate book, Ditlevsen committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.