A. Ellen Dinesen Dahl [1886-1959], Karen Blixen's younger sister, was
happily married to the publisher / lawyer Knud Dahl [1876-1945]. She
had no children. She wrote to Karen Blixen about how much she missed her
husband at his death, because, she said, her whole life revolved around
him. They lived on the estate Sandbjerg on the isle of Als, now bequeathed to the University of
Aarhus, that you can read about online. Karen Blixen did
not visit them often because she had a falling out with Knud Dahl. Her
first book, Seven Gothic Tales, was published by his company, Reitzal,
and she had many disagreements with them about the translation from
English to Danish, until she finally did the translation herself. She
became further annoyed when Reitzal announced their intention to
publish Bror's memoir, Nyama--until finally Reitzal gave up the
project.
Elle was also a writer and produced some manuscripts under the
pseudonym Paracelsus, but, according to Frans Lasson, in his
introduction to Karen Blixen i Danmark: Breve 1931-1962 [Copenhagen:
Gyldendal, 1996], Elle was neither persistent nor confident in her
writing. Reitzal published one of her books: Introductioner
[Introductions] [Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1932. 148 pages.] The
manuscript for an unpublished work, "Morderen" [The Assassin] has been
lost. Her contribution to history lies in her help in setting up the
Rungstedlund Foundation. She bought out Thomas Dinesen's share in the
property and donated it to the Foundation. This prevented a rift in the
family and allowed Karen Blixen's house to be preserved for posterity.
Copyright © 2006 by Linda
Donelson. All rights reserved. During the past quarter century, Linda Donelson has been the only author writing about Karen Blixen for an international audience. Her biography, Out of Isak Dinesen (1998), was the Number One Best-Selling Scandinavian / or related title at Amazon.com for five years.
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Supported misspellings: karen blixon, karin, isaac, isak dineson, isak denison, dinison, dinisen, denesen, coolsong, donaldson
| Coulsong