Sophie Thalbitzer Explained

Sophie Thalbitzer (née Zinn, 15 April 1774 – 27 December 1851)[1] was a Danish memoirist known for Grandma's Confessions (Danish: Grandmamas Bekiendelser),[2] which offers a rare first-hand account of everyday life for a child and young woman in an upper-class bourgeois family in Copenhagen during the late 18th and early 19th century. She was a daughter of the wealthy merchant Johann Ludvig Zinn and grew up in the Zinn House at Kvæsthusgade 3.[3] The building was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1959.[4]

Biography

Sophie Dorothea Zinn was born into a wealthy merchant family in Copenhagen, the daughter of Johann Ludvig Zinn and his wife.[5] She was a keen reader and was particularly struck by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions.[6]

One of her father's business partners, Hinrich Ladiges, a wealthy sugar manufacturer who was 40 years her senior, proposed to her when she was 17 years old. Her father was strongly in favour of the liaison but she declined. She later married Henry Thalbitzer (1767–1818) who was Royal Prussian consul to Helsingør. She was widowed in 1818.

Grandma's Confessions

She wrote her memoirs after she became a widow at the age of 41. They were originally intended for their son Carl Wilhelm Thalbitzer (Billy) but later published under the name Grandmama's Bekiendelser.[7] They offer a first-hand account of everyday life as a child and young woman in an upper-class environment in Copenhagen during the late 18th and early 19th century.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sophie Thalbitzer . Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon . 22 March 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070322073447/http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/932/origin/170/ . 22 March 2007 . live . da . 2 March 2018.
  2. Book: Thalbitzer . S.D.Z. . Clausen . J. . Rist . P.F. . "Grandmama" bekiendelser." . Gyldendalske boghandel, Nordisk forlag . Memoirer og Breve . 1906 . da . 1 March 2018 . 25.
  3. Book: Tönnesen , A. . 233 danske borgerhuse . . 1979 . 978-87-01-54131-2 . da . 2 March 2018 . 45-.
  4. Web site: Fredede Bygninger Marts 2018 . Listed Buildings March 2018 . Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen . da . 3 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180303130551/https://www.kulturarv.dk/fbb/fredningsliste.pdf . 3 March 2018 . live.
  5. Web site: J.L. Zinn – Gyldendal . Den Store Danske . 28 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180228100931/http://denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Handel_og_industri/Grosserer/J.L._Zinn . 28 February 2018 . live . da . 2 March 2018.
  6. News: Bente . Kjølbye . Mellem romaner og revolution . Politiken . 21 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161542/https://politiken.dk/debat/kroniken/art5463626/Mellem-romaner-og-revolution . 28 February 2018 . da . live . 2 March 2018.
  7. Book: Bredsdorff . T. . Alenius . M. . Digternes paryk: studier i 1700-tallet: festskrift til Thomas Bredsdorff . Museum Tusculanums forlag . 1997 . 978-87-7289-436-2 . da . 2 March 2018 . 46-.
  8. Book: Vibæk , J. . Reform og fallit: 1784–1830 . Politikens Forl. . Danmarks Historie . 1985 . 978-87-567-3870-5 . da . 2 March 2018 . Den yndige og velbegavede Sofie Zinn, datter af indehaveren af Københavns næststørste handelshus, har i sine i nyere tid som »Grandmamas bekendelser« trykte memoirer levende fortalt om de franske jakobineres ophold i hovedstaden, om hvordan hun ved en fest for dem ganske ubevidst havde smykket sig med trikolorens farver, og ikke mindst om det indtryk en af dem gjorde på hende personlig ... have hørt Marseillerhymnen synge første gang således, for at kunne.

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