Agnes Kathinka Malling Henningsen was a Danish writer and an activist for sexual freedom.
Background
Henningsen was born on the Skovsbo estate in the south of Funen where her father was the farmer. After both her mother and father died when she was young, she and her sister were sent by the family to the girls boarding school at Antvorskov near Slagelse.
Career
Her writings were centred on love and sex, as was her own life. As a single mother, Agnes Henningsen earned a living for a time as a hairdresser in central Copenhagen but later devoted all her time to writing. After a number of difficult years in Copenhagen, in 1898 Henningsen moved to Roskilde where she was able to concentrate on writing.
In 1899, she published her first novel, Glansbilledet (Scrap Picture), immediately followed by Strømmen (The Current).
Influenced by Bang"s impressionism, both depict somewhat frigid, depressive women who suffer from a lack of work and staid egocentric attitudes. In 1900, she began a period of frequent travel, successive new lovers and interesting friendships with figures from Copenhagen"s cultural scene which led to her portraits of Gustav Wied, Holger Drachmann and Georg Brandes.
After spending a lengthy period in Poland, in 1901 she gained literary fame with Polens Døtre (Poland"s Daughters), an intimate work describing the unhappy relationships two women have with the same man, as a result of their platonic views and misgivings about sexual Here Henningsen develops a much more direct style of her own, free from Bang"s influence.
Her most successful works are her eight volumes of memoirs (Erindringer) from 1941 to 1955, tracing the various episodes of her life: Let Gang paa Jorden (Stepping Lightly on the Ground), Letsindighedens Gave (Gift of Recklessness), Byen erobret (City Conquered), Kærlighedssynder (Sins of Love), Dødsfjende-Hjertenskær (Mortal Enemy-Heartthrob), Jeg er Levemand (I"m Alive), Den rige Fugl (The Rich Bird) and Skygger over Vejen (Shadows on the Road).
Foreign most of her life, Henningsen was disliked by her contemporaries for her free sexual views and behaviour but she later saw more positive interest in her work from the younger generation. When the Danish Academy was founded in 1960, she was one of its two female members, the other being Karen Blixen.