Aurora Ljungstedt


Aurora Lovisa Ljungstedt, was a Swedish writer writing under the pseudonym Claude Gérard. She is regarded to be the first crime novel author of her country and has been referred to as Sweden's Edgar Allan Poe.

Life

Aurora Lovisa Hjort was born 2 September 1821 in Karlskrona. She was the eldest of four children of major Georg Leonard Hjort and Fredrika Elisabeth Alf. In 1846, she married Samuel Viktor Ljungstedt, an official in the prison care bureau, and settled in Stockholm. She had three children.
Ljungstedt displayed talent early on but her mother disapproved of a literary career as unsuitable as this would make her a public person. After having married, she was free to write with the support of her spouse. She debuted in the 1840s, and wrote anonymously until her pseudonym was unintentionally exposed in the 1870s.
Her crime novels were very successful in Sweden and were also translated to French and Danish. She was inspired by Eugéne Sue and Edward Bulwer and wrote crime novels in the then fashionable sensationalist horror style, often with supernatural phenomena.
Ljungstedt died on 21 February 1908 in Stockholm.

Serials

Dagdrifverier och drömmerier 1857 in AftonbladetEn jägares historier 1860–1861 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaSkymningsprat 1864 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaPsykologiska gåtor 1868 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaOnkel Benjamins album 1870 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaJernringen 1871 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaModerna typer 1872 in Nya Dagligt AllehandaDen svarta kappan 1872 in Svenska Familj-JournalenInom natt och år 1875 in AftonbladetHvardagsliv 1877 in AftonbladetGröna Blad 1877 in AftonbladetDen tomma rymden 1878 in Aftonbladet

Books

Hin ondes hus 1853 Psykologiska gåtor 1868Samlade berättelser:
  1. Dagdrifverier och drömmerier och En jägares historier 1872
  2. Skymningsprat 1872
  3. Onkel Benjamins album 1873
  4. Jernringen 1873
  5. Psykologiska gåtor 1873
  6. Moderna typer 1874
  7. Inom natt och år 1876
  8. Hvardagslif och Gröna blad 1878
  9. Diverse berättelser 1882: "Den tomma rymden", "Svarta kappan", "Gnistor i mörkret", "Tönne Rolf", "Små salongsstycken"Mr. Webb: reseskizz 1873Linné i Uppsala och Amsterdam 1878Soldaten Blå: historisk skizz från Gustaf IV Adolfs tid 1879Onkel Benjamins album 1903Två sällsamma berättelser 2002Hastfordska vapnet 2006