A. In a recent
film Karen Blixen's secretary Clara Selborn--in her nineties--seems confused
about whether the telegram you mention ever existed. Scholars believe there is no evidence that Denys Finch Hatton ever asked Karen Blixen to get an abortion.
However, it does seem
that Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen used a kind of code so that
the telegraph operator wouldn't gossip about what they had
written. They referred to "Daniel" in another message and in at least one letter.
Karen Blixen's brother Thomas later confirmed that Karen
Blixen thought she was pregnant in 1926. Her letters from Africa (at least, the
ones released by her estate) don't shed much light on the matter, but, later in 1926, she said, "I do not know for certain if it was really so, and
will never know. . . ." [Letters from Africa, p. 271]
The telegram you ask about was published in 1982 in the biography Isak Dinesen by Judith Thurman. However, the
notes in her book raise questions. She quotes two telegrams, but she gives a date for
only one. Her note appears to assign the date to the wrong
telegram. Thurman is the only writer who has claimed to see a telegram that says, ""Strongly
urge you cancel Daniel's visit." It is possible that she was guessing
that Finch hatton said this, and a mistake was made in the editing of
her book.
Danish scholar Else Brundbjerg, in an article
published in the Danish magazine, Kritique, in 1984, was the first to suggest that the telegram never existed. Brundbjerg began her study of material in the Karen Blixen archives in 1975. She writes:
"12 letters and 2 telegrams from Denys Finch
Hatton can be found in the Karen Blixen archives at the Royal Danish
Library. . . Letters and telegrams are kept in a yellow folder and were
put in order immediately after they were donated to the library.
Furthermore, the number of letters matches that written on the folder.
. . The cable first quoted by Thurman is not to be found in the
archives under the specification she lists. There is only one cable and
it bears the date of the cable which Thurman quotes first. . . ." [Copenhagen: Kritique, no. 67, 1984]
Copyright © 2007 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
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