Aimee Sommerfelt
Aimee Sommerfelt, born Aimee Dedichen on April 2, 1892, in Oslo, Norway, was an accomplished writer known for her contributions to children's literature. Raised in a supportive environment by a psychiatrist father who advocated for humane treatment of the mentally ill and a homemaker mother, Aimee developed a passion for storytelling early in life. After marrying Alf Sommerfelt in 1919, she traveled extensively due to her husband’s career in linguistics and later with UNESCO, which influenced her writing. Aimee began her literary career with works primarily in Norwegian, including historical novels and stories aimed at fostering understanding of different cultures among children. Her most notable work, "The Road to Agra," tells the journey of a young Indian boy and highlights themes of poverty and resilience. Throughout her life, Sommerfelt received several accolades, including three Hans Christian Andersen International Honor Book distinctions and the Jane Addams Book Award for "The Road to Agra." Despite suffering from blindness in her later years, she continued to write until her death in 1975. While her books have been translated into multiple languages, none are currently in print in English.
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Aimee Sommerfelt
- Born: April 2, 1892
- Birthplace: Oslo, Norway
- Died: 1975
- Place of death: Norway
Biography
Aimee Dedichen was born on April 2, 1892, in Oslo, Norway. Her father, Henrik Arnold Thaulow Dedichen, was a psychiatrist, and her mother, Toinon Nyblin Dedichen, was a homemaker. Her father was one of the first psychiatrists in Norway to promote humane treatment for the mentally ill, and both parents raised Aimee and her brother and sister to be kind and friendly to people different from themselves.
Aimee was drawn to storytelling from an early age, acting out stories with her siblings and cousins in the days before television and radio. She attended college in Norway and traveled widely before marrying Alf Sommerfelt in 1919 and changing her name to Aimee Sommerfelt. The couple had three children, Wenche, Annelise, and Axel.
Alf Sommerfelt was a graduate student in comparative linguistics, and the young couple lived in France, Italy, and Wales while he conducted his research. Completing his degree, he became a professor at the University of Oslo, and they settled down near the home where Aimee had grown up. During World War II, her husband was stationed in England while Sommerfelt and the children remained in Norway. While in England, Alf Sommerfelt became one of the founders of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
After the family was reunited in Norway after the war, Alf stayed with UNESCO, and this work took him and Sommerfelt to many countries around the world. Meanwhile, Sommerfelt had begun her own career as a writer of children’s books. Her first books, including Stopp tyven! and Fire detektiver arbeider med saken, were never translated into English. She wrote a series of historical novels in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.
After she began traveling with her husband on UNESCO business, Sommerfelt started writing stories about the countries they visited, hoping to bring children an understanding of different people’s lives. Her most important book wasThe Road to Agra, the story of Lalu, a poor thirteen-year-old Indian boy who takes his younger sister on a three-hundred-mile journey on foot to get her medical attention. She was particularly interested in depicting people living in poverty.
After her husband died in 1965, Sommerfelt traveled less frequently, but continued to write. She lost her sight later in life, and wrote her last two books in total blindness. She died in 1975.
Sommerfelt’s later books have been translated into five languages and published in more than twenty-five countries. Three of her books, The Road to Agra, The White Bungalow, and My Name Is Pablo, were named Hans Christian Andersen International Honor Books. The Road to Agra also won the Jane Addams Book Award, among other prizes. None of her books remains in print in English.