Helga Johansen

Helga Johansen (1852–1912) was a Danish writer whose works are associated with the period in Scandinavian literature known as The Modern Breakthrough. The sister of painter Viggo Johansen, she was brought up in a well-to-do Copenhagen home. After intermittently working as a teacher, she began to suffer from mental illness. In 1896, writing under the pen name Et Fruentime (A Woman) she made her debut with the novel Rids, tre monologer (Outline, Three Monologues). This was followed in 1900 by Hinsides: En psykologisk Redegørelse (Beyond: A Psychological Account), drawing on her own experience of hospitalization with a confused combination of thoughts and monologues.