It was the life of Karen Blixen that was immortalized in the movie, "Out of Africa". Her story illustrates the life of a European settler in Africa.
Though her name may not be that well known in North America, the movie based on her life most certainly is. "Out of Africa" was based on the book she wrote after living for 17 years on a Kenyan coffee plantation. She used the pen-name Isak Dineson for her work.
Her story reflects the state of Kenya in those years, during a time when European settlers were common and the was often conflict between white ranchers or farm owners and the native nomadic people of Kenya. Much of that tension continues today.
She was originally from Denmark, and came to Kenya in 1914, to be with her husband Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke (who happened to also be her second cousin). Their marriage lasted until 1921, but she remained after they separated to continue the coffee business they had founded. She had an on-and-off relationship with a local hunter named Denys Finch Hatton, who died in a plane crash just as she was getting ready to leave Africa for the last time. He played a major role in the movie version of her life, played by Robert Redford.
She loved Africa, and had a good relationship with the locals who often worked on her plantation. Unlike many other settlers, she respected the natives and their different ways of life.
Karen lived on her plantation until 1931 when a fire ravaged the area. Since the entire enterprise had never been profitable in the first place, she gave up the business. She returned to Denmark at that time, after trying to get her land returned to the natives. Though her time on the plantation was 17 years, she also came "home" to Denmark for months or even a year at a time through that period.
Her death in 1962 was caused by malnutrition, which in turn came from a long time series of stomach ulcers and other gastric problems. The precise cause of her illness has never been established. She did have syphilis soon after her marriage to Bror, but it was more likely the tonic of mercury and arsenic that she tool for the syphilis that caused her later conditions.
Though "Out of Africa" was her most successful book, she wrote a number of other short stores and essays. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1954 and 1957, though she did not win in either year.
Today the Karen Blixen museum is a popular tourist attraction, especially for those who are interested in the history of this African country. The museum is in the Nairobi outskirts, and is actually the house she lived in when she was in Kenya. Many of her belongings and furniture are still there, creating an accurate and vivid picture of what life was like for European settlers in Kenya. There is also a Karen Blixen museum located in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The surrounding coffee plantation is no longer there, and the surrounding area is more of an upscale residential neighbourhood today.
Sources:
The Karen Blixen Website
"Out of Isak Dinesen", the biography of Karen Blixen
Wikipedia articles on Kenya, Karen Blixen and the Karen Blixen Museum
