“God knows why I dream so strangely about the Severine of my heart at this time. Why does she find me so friendly? If I am to believe the opposite may be its Meaning. I now hasten to bed, to put my thoughts to rest.” – These are, as far as we know, the oldest records from a lesbian woman where she talks about her crushes and love affairs. So says Bente Granrud at the National Library. Now, 200 years later, Petronelle’s six diaries are included in Norway’s documentary heritage. Got married off Bente Granrud is section manager for rare books and private archives. She tells more about what Petronelle wrote about in her diaries. 1826: Petronelle Nielsen wrote six diaries, the first in 1826. Photo: Gorm K. Gaare/Nasjonalbiblioteket – She writes both about longing and joy. She was in love with several people who lived on farms nearby, says Granrud. And the love was sometimes reciprocated. But when the friends were married off, one by one, the tears in the diaries became more frequent. Petronelle wrote about many and poignant crushes on named young women, and about the grief when they disappeared from her life. She didn’t want to get married herself, and she turned down at least one marriage proposal. Unique archive material The Norwegian Committee for World Documentary Heritage believes that the six diaries that Petronelle Nielsen wrote in the years 1824 to 1830 are completely unique. CULTURAL HERITAGE: The six diaries are unique archival material, says Norway’s cultural heritage. Photo: Gorm K. Gaare/Nasjonalbiblioteket / Gorm K. Gaare “It makes visible and puts love between the same sex in a historical perspective. Her personal descriptions also include everyday life seen through the eyes of a young woman. It is a rarity in this time period,” says their justification. – We are very happy that the material is now being lifted up as part of our shared documentary heritage, says director of subjects and research at the National Library, Hege Stensrud Høsøien. An unusual woman Petronella Nielsen was from the farm Stolpestad in Ringsaker. She was born in 1797 and died in 1886, aged 89. There were several things that made her a special woman in her time. Petronelle trained to become a painter. She was one of the first women in Norway to be empowered. She is also considered one of Norway’s first female hikers. Petronelle traveled a lot, both in Norway, in Europe and in the USA. Among the papers she left behind are also several travelogues which are important source contributions to knowledge about early travel activities. Accepted by the family, Petronelle Nielsen chose her own path in life. She moved from the family farm and bought her own home, with her own money. She moved there with Dorthea Wretmann in 1834. The two lived together for the rest of Petronelle’s life. In the diaries, she also wrote about how the family reacted to this. – She writes about the goodwill and help, and simply the acceptance, which they met with family and friends, and for which she is very grateful, says Bente Granrud. That she gained acceptance for being with a woman, she also wrote about in her older days. – So it is quite clear that she felt that she got to be who she wanted to be. The story of Petronelle has also been allowed to live on in the family. DIGITALIZED: The diaries that were written between 1824 and 1830 can now be read by anyone on the National Library’s website. Photo: Gorm K. Gaare/Nasjonalbiblioteket They took care of the diaries and gave them to the National Library, because they also thought this was an important story to take care of and display, says Bente Granrud. Retrieved from the dust, the National Library received the diaries in 1977. There they remained until 2014 when local historian and former lecturer at Hamar Cathedral School, Marie Kløvstad Øye, accidentally discovered them. She was going to write about Petronella’s father. – I thought this was a rare substance. That was the first thing that struck me. Kløvstad Øye spoke about Petronella and the diaries in the news program Ekko in 2019. – She is always included in social contexts. She tells a lot about that. But she has an emotional experience of being outside. And I think many people can relate to that. ACCEPTED: Family and friends accepted that Petronelle Nielsen lived with a woman. Photo: Henrik A. Ouren / The National Library Now everyone can read Petronelle’s diaries on the National Library’s website, where they have been digitized. Bente Granrud says you can learn a lot about your time by reading the diaries. – A lot about relationships between people. And the opportunities that could be there if you were as strong as Petronelle probably was, and chose to stand in the storms she had to stand in to manage to be empowered. To be able to live with the people she wanted. Norwegian documentary heritage are documents that are seen as nationally important, part of Unesco’s work to take care of cultural heritage.
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Petronelle Nielsen wrote diaries about being queer in the 19th century – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
