Helena Nyblom facts for kids
Helena Nyblom (7 December 1843 – 9 October 1926) was a talented author from Denmark and Sweden. She is perhaps most remembered for her wonderful children's story, The Swan Suit. Helena passed away in Stockholm.
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Helena Nyblom's Life Story
Helena was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father, Jørgen Roed, was a painter. Her brother, Holger Roed, was also a painter.
In September 1864, Helena married Carl Rupert Nyblom. He was a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden. They moved to Uppsala soon after their wedding.
Helena started writing poems and short stories. She wrote her stories in Danish. Her husband then translated them into Swedish. These stories were first published in a magazine called Ny Illustrerad Tidskrift. Later, they were collected into four books between 1875 and 1881. Helena wrote these stories to help her family, as she had six children.
Helena loved music and put a lot of feeling into her poems. Many of her poems were later turned into songs by composers like Emil Sjögren. Her first collection of poems came out in 1881. It was popular in both Denmark and Sweden.
Her Famous Fairy Tales
Helena published her first fairy tales in 1897, when she was 54 years old. She wrote more than 80 fairy tales in total. In her stories, she mixed Swedish folk tales, old myths, and romantic ideas. Many of her tales also shared messages about women's strength and independence.
Besides her own books, she also wrote for a popular Swedish annual book called Among Gnomes and Trolls. Many of her tales in this book were illustrated by the famous artist John Bauer.
A Change in Faith
In 1895, Helena decided to join the Roman Catholic Church in St. Eugenia's Church (Stockholm). This was a big event and was talked about a lot in the news. Some of her friends were critical of her choice. However, her husband, who was not Catholic, publicly supported her decision. The Catholic community in Stockholm was very proud to have such a well-known person join their faith.
Helena Nyblom passed away on October 9, 1926. She is buried in Uppsala Old Cemetery.
Her Amazing Stories in English
Some of Helena Nyblom's works have been translated so people can read them in English:
- The Little Maid Who Danced to Every Mood and the Knight Who Wanted the Best of Everything (around 1910)
- Jolly Calle and Other Swedish Fairy Tales (1912)
- The Witch of the Woods: Fairy Tales from Sweden (1968)
- The Queen's Necklace: A Swedish Folktale (1994)
