Did Karen Blixen have syphilis?

In March 1941, two months after her wedding, Karen Blixen was diagnosed as having syphilis in the second stage. She was treated initially with mercury and later on in Denmark with salvarsan. It was often called tropic dysentery, in spite of the fact that this diagnosis was never confirmed by stool analyses.

Did Karen Blixen get syphilis from her husband?

In Kenya, after Karen Blixen realised that she had contracted syphilis from her husband, the Swedish aristocrat and second cousin Baron Bror Blixen-Fineke, she told her secretary, Clara Svendsen: “There are two things you can do in such a situation: shoot the man or accept it.”

What disease does Karen have in Out of Africa?

Romance. Karen returns to Africa, and drifts into a romance with Denys. In real life, she still had syphilis. In the film, she has miraculously recovered.

Did Karen Blixen marry again?

Bror married again twice, but Karen did not remarry and never had children. Her talent for hospitality in Kenya attracted a variety of aristocratic and bohemian friends, including Berkeley Cole. She called Denys Finch Hatton the love of her life, but the nature of their relationship has never been clear.

What was Karen Blixen’s treatment for syphilis?

Syphilis was at the time widely considered an incurable disease, although it wasn’t really, and for the rest of her life Blixen attributed her considerable health problems to it, although her doctors could find no trace of it in her after the 1920s. The treatments for syphilis in early 20th century Africa included mercury and arsenic.

What kind of pain did Karen Blixen have?

It is likely that these treatments are what caused a permanent mild loss of sensation and reflex in her legs. She also suffered from chronic, intense abdominal pain. Nobody really knew or knows to this day what was causing the pain, but it plagued Blixen for her entire life.

What was the relationship between Blixen and the locals?

It also reflected on the relationship between locals who worked on her farm and herself, meditating on her position as a white land-owning European in an African land colonized by the British empire. It was first published in English, and Blixen later wrote a second version in Danish.

What was the treatment for syphilis in Africa?

The treatments for syphilis in early 20th century Africa included mercury and arsenic. It is likely that these treatments are what caused a permanent mild loss of sensation and reflex in her legs.