Isak Dinesen

Blixen in Kenya, 1918

Isak Dinesen (April 17, 1885-September 7, 1962) was a pen name for the Danish author Karen Blixen. Blixen wrote works both in Danish and in English.

She was born into a Unitarian aristocratic family in Rungsted, and was schooled in art at Copenhagen, Paris, and Rome. She began publishing fiction in various Danish periodicals in 1905 under the pen name Osceola.

In 1914 she married her cousin, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, and the couple relocated to Kenya where they operated a coffee plantation. After several infidelities on the husband's part, the couple divorced in 1921, and the Baron returned to Denmark. Karen Blixen remained in Kenya and continued to operate the plantation until the collapse of the coffee market in 1931 forced her to abandon the project.

She returned to Denmark and began writing in earnest, publishing Seven Gothic Tales (a collection of short stories) in English in 1934. She would go on to publish several other works simultaneously in Danish and English, mostly collections of short stories; she also wrote a novel entitled The Angelic Avengers, under the pseudonym of Pierre Andrezel.

She died in Rungsted, apparently from malnutrition. She had suffered for many years from syphilis contracted from her husband.

Works

• Seven Gothic Tales (1934)
• Out of Africa (1938)
• Winter's Tales (1942)
• The Angelic Avengers (1947)
• Last Tales (1957)
• Anecdotes of Destiny (1958)
• Shadows on the Grass (1960)