Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874-1969)

Field of activity
Physical Culturalist, Teacher and Writer; novelist; physical culturist; physical education teacher; short story writer
NLA Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-630726

Biographies

BJELKE-PETERSEN, MARIE CAROLINE (1874-1969), novelist, was born on 23 December 1874 at Jagtvejen near Copenhagen, only daughter of Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen, gardener and later master builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine, née Hansen. Marie attended schools in Denmark, Germany and London. When very young she was taken on long walks by her father, who had spartan ideals and instructed his children in subjects ranging from the Bible to Greek mythology and gymnastics. The family migrated to Tasmania in the Doric, arriving in Hobart on 13 October 1891, and settled at New Town. Next year Marie's brother Hans established the Bjelke-Petersen Physical Culture School in Hobart; Marie joined as instructor in charge of the women's section and also taught the subject in schools. In 1906 she registered with the Australasian Massage Association and next year with the Teachers and Schools Registration Board, Tasmania. Illness forced her to abandon this career and she then began to write seriously. She was naturalized in 1915.

View the full record at Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Marie Bjelke-Petersen is best known as a writer, but as a young woman she enjoyed playing sport and was, it has been argued, instrumental in introducing the sport of netball to Tasmania. She migrated with her family to Hobart, Tasmania in 1891, where her brother, Hans Christian, established the Bjelke-Peterson Physical Culture school in 1892. Marie joined as instructor in charge of the women's section; she also taught the subject in schools. It was during that time, it is suggested, that the Bjelke-Petersens learned about a new game called basketball that was being played in the United States. Marie introduced drills designed for the game in to the Physical Culture program that she taught in the schools. Unfortunately, injuries prevented her from continuing with her teaching career much past 1910. At this point, she picked up her career as a writer. She published her first novel The Captive Singer, in 1917 to much aclaim; it sold 100,000 copies in English and 40,000 in Danish. In 1935 she won the King's Jubilee medal for services to literature. In recent years, Bjelke-Petersen has become a gay and lesbian icon. She lived in an intimate relationship with Silvia Mills, who she met in 1898, and who, it is argued, The Captive Singer was about, for thirty years.

  • 1935 King's Jubilee Medal - For Services to Literature

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

Related people and organisations

Resources for Marie Caroline Bjelke-Petersen

Selected resources (9)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Australian Women's Register

  1. A Mortal Flame: Marie Bjelke-Petersen: Australian Romance Writer 1874-1969
    Alexander, Alison
    [1994]
    Published: Bubblehead Press
  2. Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874-1969)Australian Dictionary of Biography Online : Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874-1969)
    Weidenhofer, Margaret
    [2006]
    Published: Australian National University
    Series: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070307b.htm
  3. The Captive Singer
    Bjelke-Petersen, Marie
    [1917]
  4. She's Game: Women Making Australian Sporting History
    Australian Women's Archives Project
    [2007]
    Published: Australian Women's Archives Project
    Series: http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/sg/sport-home.html
  5. The Scandanavians in Australia, New Zealand and the Western Pacific
    Lyng, J
    [1939]
  6. A Netball History in Tasmania: 'The First Bounce' - An Account of the History of the Sport in Tasmania
    Barker, Pauline
    [2005]
    Published: Images and Visual Solutions
  7. 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology
    Radi, Heather
    [1988]
    Published: Women's Redress Press
  8. Archives Office of Tasmania: Photographs and Marie Bjelke-Petersen material (1900 - 1969)
    Correspondence, photos, diaries, working notes, cuttings
    NS1294

Resources by Marie Caroline Bjelke-Petersen (6)

  1. The mysterious stranger / by Marie Bjelke Petersen
    Bjelke Petersen, Marie, 1874-1969
    [ Book : 1914 ]
    At State Library of QLD
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.461)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.461)

  2. Dusk / by Marie Bjelke Petersen
    Bjelke Petersen, Marie, 1874-1969
    [ Book : 1920 ]
    At State Library of QLD
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.367)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.367)

  3. The immortal flame / by Marie Bjelke Petersen
    Bjelke Petersen, Marie, 1874-1969
    [ Book : 1928 ]
    At UQ Library
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.357)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.357)

  4. Dusk : a novel / by Marie Bjelke Petersen
    Bjelke Petersen, Marie, 1874-1969
    [ Book : 1920-1929 ]
    At 2 libraries
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.304)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.304)

  5. Before an eastern court / bMarie Bjelke-Petersen
    Bjelke Petersen, Marie, 1874-1969
    [ Book : 1920 ]
    At 2 libraries
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.155)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 6.155)

  6. The immortal flame
    Marie Bjelke Petersen
    [ Book : 1919 ]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 4.442)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 4.442)

No Comments for this person

 

Add a comment



Possibly related

Digitised newspapers and more

Searching...

Minimise

Diaries, letters, archives

Searching...

Minimise

Archived websites (1996 – now)

Searching...

Minimise

Pictures, photos, objects

Searching...

Minimise

Books

Searching...

Minimise

Music, sound and video

Searching...

Minimise

People and organisations

Searching...

Minimise

Journals, articles and data sets

Searching...

Minimise

Maps

Searching...

Minimise

Lists

Searching...

Minimise
  1. Caroline Chisholm
    Created by a.pearson, 27 items.

    Lists the early newspaper articles relating to Caroline Chisholm and her home form Female Immigrants

  2. Petersen
    Created by kath.leen, 2 items.

  3. Petersen
    Created by PamelaL, 16 items.

Digitised newspapers and more

No results

Minimise
The search failed, details are: <P>The newspaper system could not complete this search. Common conditions which cause this problem are:</P><UL><LI>missing double quote or missing bracket,</LI><LI>special characters which could not be interpreted, or</LI><LI> a wildcard search which matched too many words.</LI></UL>
  1. Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874-1969)
    ... BJELKE-PETERSEN, MARIE CAROLINE (1874-1969), novelist, was born on 23 December ...
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 0.629)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 0.629)

  2. Bjelke-Petersen, Hans Christian (1872-1964)
    ... was Marie Caroline Bjelke-Petersen. At first educated by his father at home ...
    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 0.401)

    This resource is very relevant to your query (score: 0.401)

  1. Website: Australian Women's Archives Project
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:
    View 25 matching archived pages
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.161)

    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.161)

  2. Website: 200 Australian Women
    www.200australianwomen.com
    Matching pages:
    View 5 matching archived pages
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.147)

    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.147)

  3. Website: Welcome to Moonee Valley
    www.mvcc.vic.gov.au
    Matching pages:
    • Biographies in Stack.xlsx - 3/11/2009
    • ... Valley Library Service   Winston S. Churchill : volume 1 : Youth, 1874‐1900 / Randolph S. Churchill...
    View 2 matching archived pages
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.002)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.002)

  1. Editorial
    Dever, Maryanne; Ferrier, Carole
    Hecate
    [ Article : 1999-2004 ]
    View online
    At UQ Library
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

  2. Playing the purse strings.(Features)(Column)
    The Australian (National, Australia)
    [ Article : 2004 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

  3. Editorial.(Editorial)
    Hecate
    [ Article : 2004 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

Pictures, photos, objects

No results

Minimise

Maps

No results

Minimise

Music, sound and video

No results

Minimise
  1. [Biographical cuttings on Marie Caroline Bjelke-Petersen, writer and artist, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]
    [ Published : 1900-1990 ]
    At National Library
    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.646)

    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.646)

  2. Bjelke-Petersen Family NG2541 [Records]
    State Library of Tasmania
    [ Unpublished : 1800-1999 ]
    Possibly online
    At State Lib Tas (CKN)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.091)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.091)

  3. Bjelke-Petersen Family NG2541 [Records]
    [ Unpublished ]
    At State Lib Tas (CKN)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

  1. Anonymer og pseudonymer i den danske, norske og islandske literatur samt i fremmede literaturer ..
    E[dvard] Collin
    [ Book : 1869 ]
    Languages: Danish
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)