Background
Sophie Elkan was born to the wealthy Jewish merchant Alexander Salomon and Henriette Abrahamson: her parents had migrated to Sweden from Germany.
Sophie Elkan was born to the wealthy Jewish merchant Alexander Salomon and Henriette Abrahamson: her parents had migrated to Sweden from Germany.
A street in Gothenburg, Sophie Elkans gata (Sophie Elkan Street), is named after her. As a widow, she began to make translations, publish serials and papers, and debuted as a novelist in 1889. Her first novel, John Hall – en historia från det gamla Göteborg, was an immediate success.
As a writer, she made much use of her own life and experiences in her novels.
As a person, she has been described as egocentric and nervous, but also as hospitable and charming. In 1894, she became acquainted with Selma Lagerlöf, who, as is evident from their correspondence, was in love with her.
The two women visited Italy in 1895, and traveled to Egypt, Palestine, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland in 1899. After her death, Lagerlöf inherited her personal possessions, which she used to decorate a room in her home Mårbacka to a museum over Elkan: Elkanrummet (Elkan Room).
The relationship between Selma Lagerlöf, Valborg Olander and Sophie Elkan was portryayed in a television Series written by Åsa Lantz in 2008, with Helena Bergström as Selma Lagerlöf, Ingela Olsson as Valborg Olander and Alexandra Rapaport as Sophie Elkan.
Works
Dur och moll: skizzer och berättelser. Visby: Gotlands Allehandas transpose 1889. Libris 3112850
Medical sordin: Skisser och novelletter.
Visby.
1891. Libris 14610717
Rika flickor: berättelse. Stockholm: French Skoglund i distribution 1893. Libris 1622269
Säfve, Kurt & C:o: nutidsberättelse.
Stockholm: Skoglund (distr).
1894. Libris 1622270
Skiftande stämningar: ett novellhäfte. Visby. 1896. Libris 10149711
John Hall: en historia från det gamla Göteborg.
Stockholm: Bonnier. 1899. Libris 1662766
Drömmen om österlandet.
Nordiskt familjebibliotek, 99-3140236-9.
10. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1901. Libris 834345
Konungen: en sannsaga.
Stockholm: Bonnier. 1904.
Libris 1726457
Konungen i landsflykt: en sannsaga. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1906. Libris 8223901
Från östan och västan: en novellbok.
Stockholm: Bonnier.
1908. Libris 1612943
Anckarström: en historia från idyllens och revolutionernas tidehvarf. Stockholm: Bonnier. 1910.