Early life
Bjelke-Petersen was born in Denmark on 23 December 1874.
She attended schools in Denmark, Germany, and London. Her father also instructed her in a range of subjects, including the Bible and Greek mythology.
Bjelke-Petersen and her family migrated to Tasmania in 1891, and settled at New Town. She eventually became an Australian citizen in 1915.
Teaching physical culture
In 1892, Bjelke-Petersen’s brother Hans founded the Bjelke-Petersen Physical Culture School in Hobart. Marie joined the school as instructor in charge of the women’s section. She also taught physical culture at other schools.
Unfortunately, she was forced to quit teaching due to illness.
Her nephew Joh later became famous as the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, holding office for 19 years.
Writing career
Bjelke-Petersen took up writing after giving up teaching. Her father would have objected to this, so her first stories were published under a pseudonym. When her father eventually found out about it, he wasn’t very happy. He’d hoped that she’d become an artist. She took up painting, but continued to write, publishing twelve books by 1937.
Her first novel, The Captive Singer, was set at the Marakoopa Caves in Tasmania. It was inspired by a guide who sang there. The novel sold over 100,000 copies.
She received a King’s Jubilee Medal for literature in 1935, and helped establish the Tasmanian Fellowship of Australian Writers.
Excursions and trips
Bjelke-Petersen wasn’t an armchair novelist. She would often visit remote areas of Tasmania with a notebook in hand. She also enjoyed going on trips into the countryside to paint.
When she visited Queenstown in the 1920s, she went underground with working miners, the first woman to do so.
Later life
Bjelke-Petersen died in Lindisfarne on 11 October 1969. She left an estate worth $40,474 ($493,076.11 in 2019 money).
List of Bjelke-Petersen’s books
The cover for The Immortal Flame.
Unfortunately for modern readers, many of her titles are out of print or hard to find. Her bibliography:
- The Mysterious Stranger (1913)
- Before an Eastern Court (1914)
- Muffled Drums (1914)
- The Captive Singer (1917)
- The Immortal Flame (1919)
- Dusk: A Novel (1921)
- Jewelled Nights (1923)
- The Moon Minstrel (1927)
- Monsoon Music (1930)
- The Rainbow Lute (1932)
- The Silver Knight (1934)
- Jungle Night (1937)
