Sophie Breum

Sophie Breum was a Danish author born in Odense in 1870 and died in Kerteminde in 1935. She grew up in a merchant family, and sources describe her as wanting to become a writer from an early age. She later studied privately in Copenhagen, with instruction in subjects including art, literature, and philosophy.

Breum became a popular writer in her own time, publishing both novels and shorter stories. Much of her work drew on life in Odense and on the island of Funen, and she is often associated with regional writing rooted in local people and places. She also wrote historical fiction as well as contemporary stories.

She is especially remembered for Jul i Købmandsgaarden from 1917, the work most closely linked with her lasting reputation. Its appeal continued well beyond her lifetime, later inspiring a stage adaptation and the 1951 film Fra den gamle Købmandsgaard.