{{for|the Danish swimmer|Clara Rybak-Andersen}} {{short description|Danish playwright}} '''Clara Elisabeth Andersen''' (13 May 1826 – 28 August 1895) was a Danish dramatist and novelist. Thanks to the many plays she wrote, she became the most successful female Danish playwright of the 19th century. Her ''Rosa og Rosita'' (1862) was performed more than a hundred times at the Royal Danish Theatre. She remained unknown to the general public during her lifetime as her plays were written anonymously and her novels and short stories were published under the pen-name '''Paul Winther'''.<ref name="kvinfo">{{cite web|author=Busk-Jensen|first=Lise|title=Clara Andersen|url=http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/335/origin/170/|accessdate=4 October 2017|website=lex.dk|publisher=Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon|language=da}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Dyrbye|first=Martin|title=Clara Andersen|url=http://denstoredanske.dk/Gyldendals_Teaterleksikon/Dansk_1840-1950/Clara_Andersen|accessdate=4 October 2017|website=lex.dk|publisher=Gyldendals Teaterleksikon|language=da}}</ref>
==Biography== Born in Copenhagen on 13 May 1826, Clara Elisabeth Andersen was the daughter of the musician Casper Heinrich Bernhard Andersen, who played the French horn at the Royal Theatre, and the actress Birgitte Andersen, who performed there.<ref name=kvinfo/>
Andersen began writing plays while still young. In 1848, she sent ''En Evadatter'' to the poet Henrik Hertz who encouraged her to continue. She became acquainted with the dramatist Frederik Høedt who had the play performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1855. It became one of the most popular plays written by a woman. Based on how a performance of ''Hamlet'' was perceived by London aristocrats, it was well received by the critics. Her most successful play, ''Rosa og Rosita'', was staged at the Royal Theatre in 1862 but was also performed in Vienna, Berlin, Breslau and Kristiania.<ref name=kvinfo/> Most of her theatrical works were staged at the Royal Theatre where they were well received.<ref name=runeberg/>
Adopting the pen-name Paul Winther, she published a collection of short stories titled ''Noveller'' in 1855 as well as the novel ''Kastaniebaandet'' (English: ''The Chestnut Band'') in 1861.<ref name="runeberg">{{Cite book|last=Andersen|first=Anton|url=https://runeberg.org/danforf/andercla.html|title=Danske Forfatterinder i det nittende Hundredaar|publisher=Em. Laghoffs Forlag|year=1896|location=Copenhagen|language=da|chapter=Frøken Clara Andersen|access-date=6 October 2017|via=Project Runeberg}}</ref>
In later years, she lived alone in a Viennese boarding house but continued to take an interest in the theatre. She died in Copenhagen on 28 August 1895, still unknown as a playwright. She left a considerable sum to charity.<ref name=kvinfo/>
== Works == * ''En Evadatter'' (1855) * ''Noveller'' (1855) * ''En Velgørers Testamente'' (1858) * ''Kastaniebaandet'' (1861) * ''Rosa og Rosita'' (1862) * ''En Teaterhistorie under Ludvig den XIV'' (1862) * ''En nyttig Onkel'' (1870) * ''Grøns Fødselsdag'' (1870) * ''De lykkeligste Børn'' (1871) * ''Sandt og usandt'' (1873)<ref name="runeberg" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Clara}} Category:1826 births Category:1895 deaths Category:19th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights Category:19th-century Danish novelists Category:19th-century Danish women writers Category:Danish women novelists Category:Writers from Copenhagen Category:Danish women dramatists and playwrights