Betty Ehrenborg

Betty (Katarina Elisabeth) Ehrenborg, as married Posse af Säby (22 July 1818 – 22 July 1880), was a Swedish writer, psalm writer and pedagogue. She is regarded as the founder of the Swedish Sunday school.

Life

She was the daughter of the noble Parliamentary Ombudsman Casper Ehrenborg and the writer Anna Fredrica Carlqvist, and married in 1863 to Baron Johan August Posse.

Betty Ehrenborg was raised at the family estate Råbäck at Kinnekulle. In 1842, she and her mother moved to Uppsala to be near her brother, who studied at Uppsala University. In Uppsala, she was present at several of the university lectures, though she was merely a member of the civil audience and not a student, and she became a part of the Uppsala intellectual life of the 1840s.

She worked as a governess in 1846–1848. In 1852–1853, she studied at the British and Foreign school in London. She founded and managed a Sunday school on her brother's estate in 1855–1856.

Works

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Swedish-language lyrics, "Blinka lilla stjärna")
• Visan om solen, månen och planeterna (Swedish-language lyrics: "The song about the sun, moon and planets")
• Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus (German-language lyrics: "När juldagsmorgon glimmar")

Sources

• K Elisabet (Betty) Posse, urn:sbl:7371, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Oloph Bexell), hämtad 2015-09-04.