Hedvig Sirenia

Hedvig Sirenia, as married Schulzen or Schultz (1734 - 1795), was a Swedish poet and translator, known simply as Sirenia. She was a member of the Kungliga Vetenskaps- och Vitterhetssamhället i Göteborg (The Royal Society of Science and Literature in Gothenburg).

Hedvig Sirenia was the daughter of the official Sigfrid Sirenius and married the physician Matthias Gottlieb Schultz (1727-1800), with whom she had a son. Her spouse was forced to retire in 1771 when he became blind.

She was regularly published in the press in Gothenburg from 1760 onward and well known locally, where she was compared to Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht and called "The Sappho of Gothenburg" and "Our Sirén" (in reference to her name). In 1759, she was inducted to the Witterhets Klubben (The Literary Society), before she was inducted to its successor, Kungliga Vetenskaps- och Vitterhetssamhället i Göteborg. Later, she also translated foreign plays.

References

• Ann Öhrberg (2001). Vittra fruntimmer. Författarroll och retorik hos frihetstidens kvinnliga författare. Stockholm: Gidlunds Förlag. ISBN 91-7844-330-X