Bror von Blixen-Finecke

Personal life

Bror Fredrik "Blix" von Blixen-Finecke and his twin brother, Hans Gustaf, were the youngest of seven children born to Baron Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke (1847–1919) and his wife, Countess Clara Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs (1855–1925). His paternal grandfather was Baron Carl Frederik Axel Bror von Blixen-Finecke (1822–1873), who held the family seat at Näsbyholm Castle and served Denmark as its Minister of Foreign Affairs 1859–1860, while his grandmother was the Baron's first wife, Gustava Charlotta Ankarcrona (1821–1890), a descendant of John III of Sweden. Bror's maternal grandfather was Count Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Denmark's prime minister 1865–1870 and a descendant of Frederick III of Denmark.

Blixen-Finecke attended agricultural college at Alnarp, and then managed the Stjetneholm farm, within the Nasbyholm estate. Blix and Hans had known "Tanne", Karen Dinesen, since childhood, since Blix's mother and Tanne's father were cousins. Hans had actually turned down Tanne, before she became attached to Blix. A visit from Blix's maternal uncle, Count Mogens Frijs, and his tales of life in Naivasha, inspired Blix to seek his future in Africa.

Bror Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke became engaged to Karen Dinesen, who followed him to Kenya in 1913, where they were married on 14 January 1914 in Mombasa. They then ran a 4,500 acres (1,800 hectares) coffee plantation at the foot of Ngong Hills, bought by Blixen from Ake Sjogren, using funds provided on behalf of her family. They lived in the manager's house, located on the Mbagathi River, until 1917, when they moved into the main two-story stone farm house. During WWI, Blix served in Lord Delamere's patrols along the border with German-Tanganyika, and Tanne helped transport supplies. According to Peter Capstick, "It was not long after Blixen and his wife settled on their farm that he started womanizing." Karen became infected with syphilis as a consequence. Capstick goes on to say, "His forays into town and his often wild socializing at the Muthaiga Club, coupled with a legendary indiscipline when it came to money and honoring his debts, soon gave the charming Swede a notorious reputation." The farm did not prosper, the couple separated, and eventually divorced. Yet, thirty years after their first safari, Karen was quoted as saying, "If I should wish anything back of my life, it would be to go on safari once again with Bror Blixen."

Aage Westenholz, Tanne's maternal uncle and family trustee after her father died, turned the farm into a company in 1918 with Aage as the chairman. Blaming the farm's losses on Blix, Aage banned Blix from the farm in the spring of 1920, and by 1921 Tanne and Blixen were separated.In Blixen's words, "Difficulty upon difficulty arose. The plantation had to be sold-my home was broken up. I stood there in the forest empty-handed. But I still had my sporting rifle." Blixen then took up professional hunting from 1922 to 1928, with time out in 1927 to accompany Charles Markham in crossing Africa east to west, first in The Vagrant from Stanleyville to Kano, then 2,818 miles (4,535 km) via International Harvester truck to Paris across Sahara Desert.

On 1 August 1928, he married the British aristocrat Jacqueline Harriet "Cockie" Alexander. They managed Singu, a 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) property at Babati, owned by Blixen's first hunting client Dick Cooper. In 1929, Blixen concentrated on his safari business and became Cooper's East Africa agent. The safari work enabled the Blixens to purchase their own farm at Ndasagu. When he was visited in Kenya by the Swedish adventurer and aviator Eva Dickson in 1932, while "Cockie" was visiting her mother in England, the marriage quickly ended, as he and Eva became lovers. In 1935, he and "Cockie" divorced, and the following year he married Eva in New York, and they spent their honeymoon together with Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer sailing around Cuba and the Bahamas. Cockie was quoted by Ulf Aschan as saying, "I have never regretted anything — except leaving Blix. He was the love of my life."

In March 1938, Eva Dickson von Blixen-Finecke died in a car crash outside Baghdad, on her way back from Calcutta after having been forced to give up her big dream of driving the Silk Road to Beijing. Bror von Blixen-Finecke didn't learn about her death until 28 July 1938, and he was devastated by the news.

Blix left Africa for good in 1938, eventually returning to his native Sweden. He died in a 1946 car accident, in which he was a passenger. Von Blixen-Finecke's identical twin, Hans, had died in a plane crash in 1917.