BREGENDAHL, MARIE

born , Nov. 6, 1867, Fly, Den. died July 22, 1940, Copenhagen Danish writer of regional literature, who portrayed the life of the inhabitants of rural areas with sympathy and a deep understanding of their social problems. Bregendahl's father was a farmer in the Viborg district, and she lived most of her life in that area, making it the milieu of her books. Her marriage in 1893 to the folk poet Jeppe Aakjr ended in divorce. She started to write rather late in life, publishing her first stories in 1902. Her best known novel is En ddsnat (1912; A Night of Death). Billeder af Sdalsfolkenes liv, 8 vol. (191423; Pictures from the Life of the People of Sodal), however, is considered her main contribution to Danish literature.