Camilla Collett (1813–1895)

Camilla Collett, née Wergeland, grew up in a literary family. Her father was an academic and her brother, the writer Henrik Wergeland, is considered Norway's national poet. In 1841, she married Peter Jonas Collett, who encouraged her writing. However, it was not until after his death and the death of her parents and brother that Camilla published the novel for which she is most famous, Amtmandens døttre (The District Governor’s Daughter, 1854-1855). It was the first Norwegian novel dealing with the inequality of women. Camilla Collett was a passionate advocate of women's rights and pioneered the struggle for equality for women in her country. She also wrote short stories, four volumes of memoirs of her childhood and youth, and further works in favor of the social and emotional emancipation of women. Among her role models were Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rahel Varnhagen, and George Sand; her work influenced later writers, especially Henrik Ibsen.