Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (Swed. Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf) (November 20, 1858, Morbakka, Värmland, Sweden - March 16, 1940, ibid.) - Swedish writer, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature (1909) and the third , who received the Nobel Prize (after Marie Curie and Bertha Suttner).
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was born on November 20, 1858 in the family estate of Morbakka (Swedish Mårbacka, county Värmland). Father - Eric Gustav Lagerlöf (1819-1885), retired military man, mother - Elisabeth Lovisa Walroth (1827-1915), teacher. The greatest influence on the development of Lagerlöf's poetic talent was the environment of her childhood, spent in one of the most picturesque regions of central Sweden - Värmland. Morbakka herself is one of the vivid memories of the writer's childhood, she never tired of describing her in her works, especially in the autobiographical books Morbakka (1922), Memoirs of a Child (1930), Diary (1932).
At the age of three, the future writer fell seriously ill. She was paralyzed and bedridden. The girl became very attached to her grandmother and aunt Nana, who knew many fairy tales, local legends and family chronicles, constantly told them to the sick girl, deprived of other children's entertainment. Selma had a hard time with the death of her grandmother in 1863, it seemed to her that the door to the whole world had slammed shut.
In 1867, Selma moved to Stockholm for treatment at a special clinic, where she regained her ability to move. Already at this time, she cherished the thought of her own literary work. In the autobiographical short story Tale of a Tale (1908), Lagerlöf described her attempts at children's creativity. But, getting back on her feet, Selma had to think about how to earn a living. By that time, the family was completely impoverished. In 1881, Lagerlöf entered the Lyceum in Stockholm, in 1882 at the Higher Teachers' Seminary, from which she graduated in 1884.
That same year, she became a teacher at a girls' school in Landskrona in southern Sweden. In 1885, her father died, and in 1888, her beloved Morbakka was sold for debts, and strangers settled in the estate.
In these rather difficult years, Selma is working on her first work, the novel The Saga of Joste Berling. In the 1880s, realism in literature began to be replaced by a neo-romantic trend, in whose works the life of noble estates, patriarchal antiquity, agricultural culture, opposed to urban (industrial) culture, were sung. This direction was patriotic, firmly holding on to the land and its living traditions. It was in this vein that the novel of the aspiring writer was written.
In the spring of 1890, the Idun newspaper announced a competition for a work that would interest readers. In August 1890, Lagerlöf sent several chapters of her unfinished work to the newspaper and received the first prize. The writer completed the novel, which was published in full in 1891. The book was noticed by the Danish critic Georg Brandes and received wide acclaim. Abandoning the exact copying of reality and nature, Lagerlöf paid tribute to fantasy, fabulousness and turned to the past, she created a world full of festivities, romance and colorful adventures. Most of the episodes of the novel, built as a chain of separate stories, are based on the legends of Värmland, known to the writer since childhood.
In the subsequent period, the writer continued to work in a fairy tale manner, publishing collections of short stories Invisible Bonds (1894), Queens from Kungahella (1899), based on folklore material, mainly folk legends, novels The Legend of the Old Manor (1899). ), "Mr. Arne's Money" (1904). Despite the evil, the curses that weigh on many people, the main force that drives the world, according to Lagerlöf, is kindness and love, which win thanks to the intervention of a higher power, revelation, or even a miracle. This is especially evident in the collection of short stories "Legends of Christ" (1904).
The writer considers some philosophical, religious and moral problems on a different material. In 1895, Lagerlöf left the service and devoted herself entirely to literary creativity. In 1895-1896 she visited Italy, where her novel The Miracles of the Antichrist (1897) takes place. The novel Jerusalem (1901-1902) focuses on the conservative peasant traditions of Swedish Dalecarlia and their clash with religious sectarianism. The fate of the peasant families, who, under pressure from the leaders of the sect, break away from their native land and move to Jerusalem to await the end of the world there, is depicted with deep sympathy by the writer.
The central work of Selma Lagerlöf, the fairy tale book Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden (Swedish: Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige) (1906-1907), was originally conceived as an educational book. Written in the spirit of democratic pedagogy, it was supposed to tell children about Sweden, its geography and history, legends and cultural traditions in a fun way.
The book is based on folk tales and legends. Geographical and historical materials are held together here by a fabulous plot. Together with a flock of geese, led by the wise old Akka from Kebnekaise, Martin Nils travels all over Sweden on the back of a goose. But this is not just a journey, it is also the education of a person. Thanks to meetings and events during the trip, kindness wakes up in Nils Holgersson, he begins to worry about other people's misfortunes, rejoice in the success of another, experience someone else's fate as his own. The boy develops the ability to empathize, without which a person is not a person. Protecting and saving his fabulous fellow travelers, Nils fell in love with people, understood the grief of his parents, the difficult life of the poor. Niels returns from his journey as a real person.
The book received recognition not only in Sweden, but throughout the world. In 1907 Lagerlöf was elected an honorary doctor of Uppsala University, and in 1914 she became a member of the Swedish Academy.
In 1909, the writer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to the high idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual penetration that distinguish all her works."
The Nobel Prize allowed Lagerlöf to buy her native Morbakka, where she moves and where she lives for the rest of her life. A new novel from the life of the people of Vermland, The House of Liljecruna (1911), new short stories, fairy tales, legends collected in the collections Trolls and People (1915, 1921), the anti-militarist novel The Exile (1918), a fairy-tale fantasy the story "The Charioteer" (1912). The most significant work of this period is the novel The Emperor of Portugal (1914), which depicts the life of a poor torpair who, as a result of psychological trauma, imagines himself an emperor. The only thing that connects him to reality is the love for his daughter that fills his entire being. By this love he himself is saved, and so is his erring daughter.
The last major work of Lagerlöf is a trilogy about the Loewenschilds: The Ring of the Loewenschilds (1925), Charlotte Loewenschild (1925) and Anna Swerd (1928). This is a novel dedicated to the history of one family for five generations. The action begins around 1730 and ends in 1860. But Lagerlöf's novel differs from the traditional European family chronicle. He did not become historical either, history is only a background for him. Both history and the family life of the Löwenskiölds are transformed in the spirit inherent in Lagerlöf into a chain of mysterious incidents, fatal omens and curses weighing on people. But as always with Lagerlöf, goodness and justice triumph over evil, and this time - even without the intervention of higher powers, by the force of kindness and will of the heroes - Karl-Arthur Ekenstedt, Charlotte Löwenskiöld and Anna Sverd.
Before the outbreak of World War II in Nazi Germany, she was hailed as a "Nordic poet", but as soon as Lagerlöf began to help German writers and cultural figures escape Nazi persecution, the German government condemned her sharply. A year before her death, Lagerlöf helped German poet Nelly Sachs get a Swedish visa, saving her from the Nazi death camps. Deeply shaken by the outbreak of the World War, as well as the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War, she donated [source not specified 1184 days] her gold Nobel medal to the Swedish National Relief Fund of Finland. The government found the necessary funds in another way, and the writer's medal was returned to her.
After a long illness, Lagerlöf died of peritonitis at her home in Morbach at the age of 81.
Lagerlöf attended the Royal Teachers College for Women in Stockholm. There she met the progressive ideas of the time and made many good friends. Deciding to study, Salma went against the will of her father. In college, the talented girl became popular for her poetry, several of her sonnets were published in the feminist periodical Dagny. The well-known bourgeois feminist activist Sophie Adlersparre supported Salma and helped her with her first novel, Jöste Berling's Saga.
Her father died shortly after Salma graduated. The native farm of the writer was sold for debts. Before starting to earn money with literature, Lagerlöf worked as a teacher for ten years.
Salma Lagerlöf was a lesbian. Throughout her life, she maintained relationships with the Swedish political activist, suffragist Valborg Olander and writer Sophie Elkan, whom she met in 1894. The relationship between Lagerlöf and Olander, which lasted a total of 40 years, is documented in love correspondence. A serial film was also shot about the relationship of three women in Sweden.
Compositions:
The saga of Jösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga, 1891).
Invisible bonds (Osynliga länkar, 1894).
Miracles of the Antichrist (Antikrists mirakler, 1897).
Queens from Kungahälla (Drottningar i Kungahälla, 1899).
The legend of the old manor (En herrgårdssägen, 1899).
Jerusalem (Jerusalem, vol. 1. Dalecarlia, 1901; vol. 2. Jerusalem, 1902).
Mr. Arne's money (Herr Arnes penningar, 1904).
Legends of Christ (Kristuslegender, 1904).
The amazing journey of Nils Holgersson with wild geese in Sweden (Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, vol. 1-2, 1906-1907).
The Tale of a Tale and Other Tales (En saga om en saga och andra sagor, 1908).
Liljecrona's house (Liljecronas hem, 1911).
Driver (Körkarlen, 1912).
Emperor of Portugal (Kejsarn av Portugallien, 1914).
Trolls and people (Troll och människor, vol. 1-2, 1915-1921).
Exile (Bannlyst, 1918).
Morbakka (Mårbacka, 1922).
Löwenskiöld ring (historical trilogy):
Löwensköld ring (Löwensköldska ringen, 1925).
Charlotte Löwensköld (1925).
Anna Sverd (Anna Svärd, 1928).
Memoirs of a Child (Ett barns memoarer, 1930).
Diary (Dagbok för Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf, 1932).
The article tells about a brief biography of Selma Lagerlöf, a writer from Sweden, who became famous for her fairy tale about the adventures of Niels. She became the first woman to win a literary Nobel Prize.
Biography Legerlöf: early period of creativity
Selma Lagerlöf was born in 1858. The childhood of the future writer was spent on a family estate in one of the most picturesque Swedish areas. Vivid childhood memories formed the basis of many of Lagerlöf's works. At an early age, a misfortune happened: the girl was paralyzed. Selma was surrounded by the constant care and attention of close relatives, who introduced her to the rich world of folk legends.
In 1867, Selma was treated in a Stockholm clinic, which gave a significant result. The girl was able to move around. She wants to become a writer and makes her first attempts at creative activity. However, the harsh reality leads Selma to be more concerned about earning opportunities for the impoverished family.
In 1881, Lagerlöf left for Stockholm, where he studied at the lyceum and seminary. After training, she starts working as a teacher in southern Sweden. Soon another misfortune occurs: Selma's father dies, and the Lagerlöf family estate is sold for debts.
In the 80s. Selma begins work on a neo-romantic novel. It is characterized by a significant patriotic spirit, an exalted depiction of rural life as opposed to urban life, and admiration for ancient traditions passed down from generation to generation. The novel of the writer was largely based on the legends that Lagerlöf heard in her childhood during her illness. It contains many fairy-tale motifs, full of romantic adventures.
The novel "The Saga of Yeste Berling" (1891) received the approval of literary critics and a large number of readers. Even before publication, Lagerlef sent some chapters of the future work to a competition announced by one newspaper, and won first place.
Lagerlöf begins to constantly publish novels and short stories in a fairy-tale style. Their main theme is the confrontation between good and evil, as a result of which good always comes out victorious and love triumphs.
In the mid 90s. Lagerlöf ended her teaching career and was able to travel to Italy. Under the influence of this trip, she wrote the novel "Miracles of the Antichrist", in which she touched upon the problems of philosophy and morality.
Biography Lagerlöf: world recognition
In 1906-1907. Lagerlöf wrote her most famous work about the adventures of Niels. In a fabulous adventure form, the writer tells about the geographical and historical features of Sweden. The book was supposed to be a kind of textbook for children, which in an entertaining way covered the rich culture of the country. The work has become a kind of children's encyclopedia. Niels travels on a goose throughout Sweden, getting into various accidents, while showing the best human qualities. The book taught children kindness, mercy, compassion. It was very popular and almost immediately was translated into many languages of the world.
In 1909, Lagerlöf received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The writer was able to return her estate and began to live there. Returning to his native places had a beneficial effect on his writing activity. Lagerlöf still works a lot, including on works dedicated to his childhood. In 1914, one of her most famous novels, The Emperor of Portugal, was published.
The writer devoted the last years of her life to working on a novel in three parts about the life of several generations of the Levenskiöld family. In terms of time, the work covers more than 100 years, it contains a description of real events. However, the novel was not historical in the full sense of the word. As always, there are mysterious and inexplicable forces in the writer's work, and the ending of the work marks the inevitable victory of good over evil.
The writer died in 1940. Her work was included in the golden fund of Swedish and world literature. Legerlef enjoys great respect in his country.
- March 16, 1940, ibid) - Swedish writer, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature () and the third to receive the Nobel Prize (after Marie Curie and Bertha Suttner).
Biography
Childhood and youth
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was born on November 20, 1858 in the family estate of Morbakka (Swedish. Marbacka, Vermland county). Father - Eric Gustav Lagerlöf (1819-1885), retired military man, mother - Elisabeth Lovisa Walroth (1827-1915), teacher. The greatest influence on the development of Lagerlöf's poetic talent was the environment of her childhood, spent in one of the most picturesque regions of central Sweden - Värmland. Morbakka herself is one of the vivid memories of the childhood of the writer, she did not get tired of describing her in her works, especially in autobiographical books " Morbacca» (), « Memoirs of a Child» (), « Diary» ().
At the age of three, the future writer fell seriously ill. She was paralyzed and bedridden. The girl became very attached to her grandmother and aunt Nana, who knew many fairy tales, local legends and family chronicles, constantly told them to the sick girl, deprived of other children's entertainment. Selma had a hard time with the death of her grandmother in 1863, it seemed to her that the door to the whole world had slammed shut.
That same year, she became a teacher at a girls' school in Landskrona in southern Sweden. In 1885, her father died, and in 1888, her beloved Morbakka was sold for debts, and strangers settled in the estate. 
The beginning of literary creativity
In these rather difficult years, Selma is working on her first work, a novel. "Jöst Beurling's Saga". In the 1880s, realism in literature began to be replaced by a neo-romantic trend, in whose works the life of noble estates, patriarchal antiquity, agricultural culture, opposed to urban (industrial) culture, were sung. This direction was patriotic, firmly holding on to the land and its living traditions. It was in this vein that the novel of the aspiring writer was written.
The writer considers some philosophical, religious and moral problems on a different material. In 1895, Lagerlöf left the service and devoted herself entirely to literary creativity. In 1895-1896 she visited Italy, where her novel " Miracles of the Antichrist» (1897). In the novel " Jerusalem» (1901-1902) in the center of the narrative are the conservative peasant traditions of the Swedish Dalecarlia and their clash with religious sectarianism. The fate of peasant families, who, under pressure from the leaders of the sect, break away from their native land and move to Jerusalem to await the end of the world there, is depicted with deep sympathy by the writer.
The pinnacle of literary creativity and world recognition
The central work of Selma Lagerlöf is the fairy-tale book "Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden" (Swedish. Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ) (1906-1907) was originally conceived as an educational one. Written in the spirit of democratic pedagogy, it was supposed to tell children about Sweden, its geography and history, legends and cultural traditions in a fun way.
The book is based on folk tales and legends. Geographical and historical materials are held together here by a fabulous plot. Together with a flock of geese, led by the wise old Akka from Kebnekaise, Martin Nils travels all over Sweden on the back of a goose. But this is not just a journey, it is also the education of a person. Thanks to meetings and events during the trip, kindness wakes up in Nils Holgersson, he begins to worry about other people's misfortunes, rejoice in the success of another, experience someone else's fate as his own. The boy develops the ability to empathize, without which a person is not a person. Protecting and saving his fabulous fellow travelers, Nils fell in love with people, understood the grief of his parents, the difficult life of the poor. Niels returns from his journey as a real person.
The book received recognition not only in Sweden, but throughout the world. In Lagerlöf she was elected an honorary doctor of Uppsala University, in 1914 she became a member of the Swedish Academy.
Her father died shortly after Salma graduated. The native farm of the writer was sold for debts. Before starting to earn money with literature, Lagerlöf worked as a teacher for ten years.
- The saga of Jösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga, 1891).
- Invisible bonds (Osynliga länkar, 1894).
- Miracles of the Antichrist (Antikrists mirakler, 1897).
- Queens from Kungahälla (Drottningar i Kungahälla, 1899).
- The legend of the old manor (En herrgårdssägen, 1899).
- Jerusalem (Jerusalem, vol. 1. Dalecarlia, 1901; vol. 2. Jerusalem, 1902).
- Mr. Arne's money (Herr Arnes penningar, 1904).
- Legends of Christ (Kristuslegender, 1904).
- The amazing journey of Nils Holgersson with wild geese in Sweden (Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, vol. 1-2, 1906-1907).
- The Tale of a Tale and Other Tales (En saga om en saga och andra sagor, 1908).
- Liljecrona's house (Liljecronas hem, 1911).
- Driver (Körkarlen, 1912).
- Emperor of Portugal (Kejsarn av Portugallien, 1914).
- Trolls and people (Troll och människor, vol. 1-2, 1915-1921).
- Exile (Bannlyst, 1918).
- Morbakka (Mårbacka, 1922).
- Löwenskiöld ring (historical trilogy):
- Löwensköld ring (Löwensköldska ringen, 1925).
- Charlotte Löwensköld (1925).
- Anna Sverd (Anna Svärd, 1928).
- Memoirs of a Child (Ett barns memoarer, 1930).
- Diary (Dagbok för Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf, 1932).
Publication of works in Russian translation
- Collected works in 4 volumes. - L .: Fiction, Leningrad branch, 1991-1993.
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- in the library of Maxim Moshkov
An excerpt characterizing Lagerlöf, Selma
No, recently...- What do you like about him?
- Yes, he is a pleasant young man ... Why are you asking me this? - said Princess Mary, continuing to think about her morning conversation with her father.
- Because I made an observation - a young man usually comes from St. Petersburg to Moscow on vacation only with the aim of marrying a rich bride.
You have made this observation! - said Princess Mary.
“Yes,” Pierre continued with a smile, “and this young man now keeps himself in such a way that where there are rich brides, there he is.” I read it like a book. He is now undecided whom he should attack: you or Mademoiselle Julie Karagin. Il est tres assidu aupres d "elle. [He is very attentive to her.]
Does he visit them?
- Very often. And do you know a new way of courting? - Pierre said with a cheerful smile, apparently being in that cheerful spirit of good-natured mockery, for which he so often reproached himself in his diary.
“No,” said Princess Mary.
- Now, to please the Moscow girls - il faut etre melancolique. Et il est tres melancolique aupres de m lle Karagin, [one must be melancholy. And he is very melancholy with m elle Karagin,] - said Pierre.
– Vrayment? [Right?] - said Princess Mary, looking into Pierre's kind face and not ceasing to think about her grief. “It would be easier for me,” she thought, if I decided to believe to someone everything that I feel. And I would like to tell Pierre everything. He is so kind and noble. It would be easier for me. He would give me advice!”
- Would you marry him? Pierre asked.
“Ah, my God, Count, there are such moments when I would go for anyone,” Princess Mary suddenly said, unexpectedly for herself, with tears in her voice. “Ah, how hard it is to love a loved one and feel that ... nothing (she continued in a trembling voice) you can do for him except grief, when you know that you cannot change this. Then one thing - to leave, but where should I go? ...
- What are you, what is the matter with you, princess?
But the princess, without finishing, began to cry.
“I don't know what's wrong with me today. Don't listen to me, forget what I told you.
All Pierre's gaiety vanished. He anxiously questioned the princess, asked her to express everything, to confide her grief to him; but she only repeated that she asked him to forget what she said, that she did not remember what she said, and that she had no grief, except for what he knows - grief that the marriage of Prince Andrei threatened to quarrel her father with son.
Have you heard about the Rostovs? she asked to change the conversation. “I was told they would be coming soon. I also wait for Andre every day. I would like them to meet here.
How does he look at the matter now? asked Pierre, by which he meant the old prince. Princess Mary shook her head.
– But what to do? The year is only a few months away. And it can't be. I would only wish to spare my brother the first few minutes. I wish they would come sooner. I hope to get along with her. You have known them for a long time, - said Princess Marya, - tell me, hand on heart, the whole true truth, what kind of girl is this and how do you find her? But the whole truth; because, you understand, Andrei risks so much by doing this against the will of his father that I would like to know ...
An obscure instinct told Pierre that in these reservations and repeated requests to tell the whole truth, Princess Mary's hostility towards her future daughter-in-law was expressed, that she wanted Pierre not to approve of Prince Andrei's choice; but Pierre said what he felt rather than thought.
"I don't know how to answer your question," he said, blushing, not knowing why. “I definitely don’t know what kind of girl this is; I can't analyze it at all. She is charming. And why, I do not know: that's all that can be said about her. - Princess Mary sighed and the expression on her face said: "Yes, I expected this and was afraid."
- Is she smart? asked Princess Mary. Pierre considered.
“I think not,” he said, “but yes. She does not deign to be smart ... No, she is charming, and nothing more. Princess Mary again shook her head disapprovingly.
“Oh, I so desire to love her!” Tell her that if you see her before me.
“I heard that they will be in the next few days,” said Pierre.
Princess Marya told Pierre her plan of how, as soon as the Rostovs arrived, she would get close to her future daughter-in-law and try to accustom the old prince to her.
Marrying a rich bride in St. Petersburg did not work out for Boris and he came to Moscow for the same purpose. In Moscow, Boris was in indecision between the two richest brides - Julie and Princess Mary. Although Princess Mary, despite her ugliness, seemed to him more attractive than Julie, for some reason he was embarrassed to look after Bolkonskaya. On her last meeting with her, on the old prince's name day, to all his attempts to talk to her about feelings, she answered him inappropriately and obviously did not listen to him.
Julie, on the contrary, although in a special way, peculiar to her alone, but willingly accepted his courtship.
Julie was 27 years old. After the death of her brothers, she became very rich. She was now completely ugly; but I thought that she was not only just as good, but much more attractive than she had been before. She was supported in this delusion by the fact that, firstly, she became a very rich bride, and, secondly, that the older she became, the safer she was for men, the freer it was for men to treat her and, without assuming any obligations, enjoy her dinners, evenings and lively society, gathering with her. A man who ten years ago would have been afraid to go every day to the house where there was a 17-year-old young lady, so as not to compromise her and not to tie himself up, now went to her boldly every day and treated her not as a young lady, but as a a friend who has no gender.
The Karagins' house was the most pleasant and hospitable house in Moscow that winter. In addition to parties and dinners, every day a large company gathered at the Karagins, especially men who had dinner at 12 o'clock in the morning and stayed up until 3 o'clock. There was no ball, festivities, theater that Julie would miss. Her toilets were always the most fashionable. But, despite this, Julie seemed disappointed in everything, told everyone that she did not believe in friendship, or in love, or in any joys of life, and expected peace only there. She adopted the tone of a girl who has suffered great disappointment, a girl who seems to have lost a loved one or was cruelly deceived by him. Although nothing like this happened to her, they looked at her as such, and she herself even believed that she had suffered a lot in life. This melancholy, which did not prevent her from having fun, did not prevent the young people who visited her from having a good time. Each guest, coming to them, gave his debt to the melancholy mood of the hostess and then engaged in secular conversations, and dances, and mental games, and burime tournaments, which were in vogue with the Karagins. Only some young people, including Boris, went deeper into Julie's melancholy mood, and with these young people she had longer and more solitary conversations about the futility of everything worldly, and to them she opened her albums covered with sad images, sayings and poems.
Julie was especially affectionate towards Boris: she regretted his early disappointment in life, offered him those consolations of friendship that she could offer, having suffered so much in her life herself, and opened her album to him. Boris drew two trees for her in an album and wrote: Arbres rustiques, vos sombres rameaux secouent sur moi les tenebres et la melancolie. [Rural trees, your dark boughs shake off gloom and melancholy on me.]
Elsewhere he drew a tomb and wrote:
"La mort est secourable et la mort est tranquille
Ah! contre les douleurs il n "y a pas d" autre asile.
[Death is saving and death is calm;
ABOUT! there is no other refuge against suffering.]
Julie said it was lovely.
- II y a quelque chose de si ravissant dans le sourire de la melancolie, [There is something infinitely charming in a smile of melancholy,] - she said to Boris word for word the passage written out from the book.
- C "est un rayon de lumiere dans l" ombre, une nuance entre la douleur et le desespoir, qui montre la consolation possible. [This is a ray of light in the shadows, a shade between sadness and despair, which indicates the possibility of consolation.] - To this, Boris wrote poetry to her:
"Aliment de poison d" une ame trop sensible,
"Toi, sans qui le bonheur me serait impossible,
"Tendre melancolie, ah, viens me consoler,
Viens calmer les tourments de ma sombre retraite
"Et mele une douceur secrete
"A ces pleurs, que je sens couler."
[Poisonous food of a too sensitive soul,
You, without whom happiness would be impossible for me,
Gentle melancholy, oh come comfort me
Come, calm the torments of my gloomy solitude
And join the secret sweetness
To these tears that I feel flowing.]
Julie played Boris the saddest nocturnes on the harp. Boris read Poor Liza aloud to her and interrupted the reading more than once from excitement, which took his breath away. Meeting in a large society, Julie and Boris looked at each other as the only people in the world who were indifferent, who understood each other.
Anna Mikhailovna, who often went to the Karagins, making up her mother's party, meanwhile made accurate inquiries about what was given for Julie (both Penza estates and Nizhny Novgorod forests were given). Anna Mikhailovna, with devotion to the will of Providence and tenderness, looked at the refined sadness that connected her son with rich Julie.
- Toujours charmante et melancolique, cette chere Julieie, [She is still charming and melancholic, this dear Julie.] - she said to her daughter. - Boris says that he rests his soul in your house. He has suffered so many disappointments and is so sensitive,” she told her mother.
“Ah, my friend, how I have become attached to Julie lately,” she said to her son, “I cannot describe to you! And who can't love her? This is such an unearthly creature! Oh Boris, Boris! She was silent for a minute. “And how I feel sorry for her maman,” she continued, “today she showed me reports and letters from Penza (they have a huge estate) and she is poor and all alone: she is so deceived!
Boris smiled slightly, listening to his mother. He meekly laughed at her ingenuous cunning, but he listened and sometimes asked her attentively about the Penza and Nizhny Novgorod estates.
Julie had long been expecting an offer from her melancholic admirer and was ready to accept it; but some kind of secret feeling of disgust for her, for her passionate desire to get married, for her unnaturalness, and a feeling of horror at the renunciation of the possibility of true love still stopped Boris. His vacation was already over. Whole days and every single day he spent with the Karagins, and every day, reasoning with himself, Boris told himself that he would propose tomorrow. But in the presence of Julie, looking at her red face and chin, almost always sprinkled with powder, at her moist eyes and at the expression on her face, which always showed readiness to immediately move from melancholy to the unnatural rapture of marital happiness, Boris could not utter a decisive word: despite the fact that for a long time in his imagination he considered himself the owner of the Penza and Nizhny Novgorod estates and distributed the use of income from them. Julie saw Boris's indecisiveness and sometimes the thought came to her that she was disgusting to him; but immediately a woman's self-delusion offered her consolation, and she told herself that he was shy only out of love. Her melancholy, however, began to turn into irritability, and not long before Boris left, she undertook a decisive plan. At the same time that Boris' vacation was ending, Anatole Kuragin appeared in Moscow and, of course, in the Karagins' living room, and Julie, suddenly leaving her melancholy, became very cheerful and attentive to Kuragin.
“Mon cher,” Anna Mikhailovna said to her son, “je sais de bonne source que le Prince Basile envoie son fils a Moscou pour lui faire epouser Julieie.” [My dear, I know from reliable sources that Prince Vasily is sending his son to Moscow in order to marry him to Julie.] I love Julie so much that I should feel sorry for her. What do you think, my friend? Anna Mikhailovna said.
The thought of being fooled and wasting for nothing this whole month of hard melancholic service under Julie and seeing all the income from the Penza estates already planned and used properly in his imagination in the hands of another - especially in the hands of stupid Anatole, offended Boris. He went to the Karagins with the firm intention of making an offer. Julie greeted him with a cheerful and carefree air, casually talking about how fun she had been at the ball yesterday, and asking when he was coming. Despite the fact that Boris arrived with the intention of talking about his love and therefore intended to be gentle, he irritably began to talk about women's inconstancy: about how women can easily move from sadness to joy and that their mood depends only on who looks after them. Julie was offended and said that it was true that a woman needed variety, that everyone would get tired of the same thing.
“For this I would advise you ...” Boris began, wanting to taunt her; but at that very moment the insulting thought came to him that he might leave Moscow without achieving his goal and losing his labors in vain (which had never happened to him). He stopped in the middle of her speech, lowered his eyes so as not to see her unpleasantly irritated and indecisive face, and said: “I didn’t come here at all to quarrel with you. On the contrary…” He glanced at her to see if he could continue. All her irritation suddenly disappeared, and restless, pleading eyes were fixed on him with greedy expectation. "I can always arrange myself so that I rarely see her," thought Boris. “But the work has begun and must be done!” He blushed, looked up at her, and said to her, “You know how I feel about you!” There was no more need to speak: Julie's face shone with triumph and self-satisfaction; but she forced Boris to tell her everything that is said in such cases, to say that he loves her, and never loved a single woman more than her. She knew that for the Penza estates and Nizhny Novgorod forests she could demand this, and she got what she demanded.
Selma Ottilia Luvisa Lagerlöf was born on November 20, 1858 in Sweden. This great Swedish writer was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Her father was a retired military man and her mother was a teacher. Their family lived in the Morbakka estate (Värmland, Sweden). The development of Selma's writing talents was influenced by the environment in which she spent her childhood. In many of her works, she remembered Morbakka and Värmland with incredible love and warmth.
But not everything went smoothly in Selma's life. When she was 3 years old, she was paralyzed and completely helpless. While she was ill, her aunt and grandmother told her various folk tales, legends and stories. In 1863, her grandmother died, the future writer went through this event very hard.
In 1867 Selma was moved to Stockholm. She was treated in a specialized clinic, where she regained the ability to move. At this time, she already dreamed of literary work. But she had absolutely no time to develop in this direction, because during her treatment, Selma's family became completely impoverished. The girl needed to think about earnings. In Stockholm, she was able to enter the lyceum (1881), and in 1882, the Higher Teachers' Seminary. She graduated in 1884. In the same year, she went to work as a teacher in a girls' school in the south of Sweden.
In 1885, she survived the death of her own father, and three years later the Morbakk estate, so dearly loved by Selma, was sold to pay off debts. In 1890, the Idun newspaper announced a competition for a literary work that could interest readers. In the summer of the same year, she sent part of the unfinished work to the editorial office of the newspaper and received an award for it. Her novel was published in full in 1891. The Danish critic Georg Brandee noticed her work, and it received public recognition. Selma wrote in a peculiar "anti-realistic" style. In her works there was fabulousness and romance. Much of the previously mentioned novel was based on the Värmland legends.
In subsequent years, Lagerlöf wrote in her developed style. Her most famous works of that period are Monsieur Arne's Money (1904), Invisible Bonds (1894), and The Legend of the Old Manor (1899). In her works she sang goodness, love and justice. In some of her works, the writer considered religious and moral problems. In 1895, Selma left work and plunged into creativity.
Selma's main work is Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden. This book is built on legends, folk tales and the rich knowledge of the writer herself. Initially, the creation of the book was planned in order to gently and unobtrusively tell children about the history and geography of Sweden. This book has been acclaimed by readers all over the world.
Further, the biography of Selma Lagerlöf tells that in 1907 she was elected an honorary doctor of Uppsala University, and in 1914 the writer joined the members of the Swedish Academy. In 1909 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. With this reward, she redeemed her beloved Morbacca. Selma moved there and lived in this place for the rest of her life. While living in Morbach, she wrote many new works, among which were The Exile (1918) and the novel The Emperor of Portugal (1914). The last major work was a large trilogy, which consisted of 3 parts: “The Loevenskiold Ring”, “Charlotte Loewenskiold” and “Anna Sverd”.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Selma helped German artists escape Nazi persecution. For this she was condemned by the German government. She was deeply shocked by the start of the war, which is why she gave her Nobel medal to the Swedish National Trust, but the government gave it back to her.
The writer died in Morbach of peritonitis in 1940.
Please note that the biography of Lagerlöf Selma presents the most basic moments from life. Some minor life events may be omitted from this biography.
(1858 - 1940)
The Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf was born on November 20, 1858 in the province of Värmland in southern Sweden in the family of a retired officer.
Selma was brought up by her grandmother, who told her unforgettable fairy tales and legends. Selma read voraciously, tried to compose poetry. Lagerlöf entered the Royal Higher Women's Pedagogical Academy in Stockholm and graduated in 1882. Lagerlöf received a teaching position at the women's school in Landskrona. The colorful landscapes of Värmland give impetus to creativity. She submits the first chapters of her novel to a literary competition organized by Idun magazine. Lagerlöf receives first prize. With the material support of his friend Baroness Sophie Aldespare, Lagerlöf takes a leave of absence from school and completes the novel The Jöste Berling Saga. The novel was written in a romantic style, which has always prevailed in the works of A. Strinberg, G. Ibsen and other Scandinavian writers.
Lagerlöf returned to teaching, but soon abandoned it and plunged into work on the collection of short stories Invisible Chains (1894). Lagerlöf met the writer S. Elkan, who became her closest friend. Thanks to financial support from King Oscar II and the Swedish Academy, she finally chooses a literary path. During a trip to Sicily, the writer collects materials for the book Miracles of the Antichrist. The two-volume novel Jerusalem (1901-1902) was written after a trip to Palestine and Egypt and was published in 1901-1902.
In 1904, she was able to buy the Morbakk estate. In the same year, Lagerlöf received a gold medal from the Swedish Academy. Two years later, she published her famous children's novel Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Wild Geese Journey Through Sweden. In 1907, another children's book, The Farm Girl in the Swamps, was published.
1909 Lagerlöf was awarded the Nobel Prize "in tribute to the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual insight that characterize her works."
In 1911, she spoke at an international women's conference in Stockholm, and in 1924, as a delegate to the women's congress, she traveled to the United States. 1924 Lagerlöf is elected a member of the Swedish Academy. In the early 20s, she became one of the well-known Swedish writers. Prior to that, she published a number of popular autobiographical books.
Lagerlöf helped German writers and cultural figures escape Nazi persecution, in particular, she helped to obtain a Swedish visa for the German poetess N. Sachs, saving her from the death camps.
The outbreak of World War II, the Soviet-Finnish war deeply affected Lagerlöf, she transfers her gold Nobel medal to the Swedish National Relief Fund in Finland.
On March 16, 1940, after a long illness, Lagerlöf died of peritonitis at the age of 81.
Selma Lagerlöf is popular not only in Sweden, but also abroad.
