49 Facts About Marianne Ihlen

Marianne Ihlen was the subject of Cohen's 1967 song "So Long, Marianne".

Marianne Ihlen was raised in Oslo where her father was a lawyer.

Marianne Ihlen briefly worked as an au pair in Newcastle, in England.

Once at the party Marianne Ihlen thought he was fascinating and was spellbound by everything he said.

Marianne Ihlen introduced Ihlen to works by Nietzsche, Carl Jung and Ouspensky in an effort to expand her horizons.

Marianne Ihlen clashed with her father over Jensen, curfews, and housework, and when she was twenty he refused her permission to spend Easter with Jensen and their friends in a mountain cabin.

Marianne Ihlen's father thought that Jensen, who came from a broken home, lacked a good education, a job and a place of his own to live, unlike the children of his middle class friends and acquaintances.

When she was 22, Marianne Ihlen was inspired while reading Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck with her mother's cousin who was an actress, to become an actress.

Marianne Ihlen then studied to take the entrance examination to the National Academy of Theatre in Oslo, but lost her nerve partly due to her parents' objections and did not take the examination.

Marianne Ihlen thought they had a committed relationship with long held plans to travel to Greece, but later that same year, one evening, Jensen out of the blue introduced her to another young woman at the Theatre Cafe, and informed Marianne Ihlen that there would be no trip to Greece as he was leaving tomorrow with the other woman for Egypt.

Marianne Ihlen was approached by Eileen Barclay who was married to Sam Barclay, an heir to Barclays Bank.

Marianne Ihlen suggested that Ihlen replace her on the schooner where she could be a nanny for the couple's seven-year-old son.

Marianne Ihlen immediately asked her to marry him and she accepted.

Marianne Ihlen's son Axel Joachim was born on 21 January 1960 in Oslo.

Marianne Ihlen temporarily moved in with her mother, as a week after his son's birth Jensen travelled back to Hydra in order to avoid paying Norwegian taxes.

Marianne Ihlen described their meeting in Katsikas' store in early 1960:.

Marianne Ihlen was wearing a beautiful little sixpence cap.

Rather than return to Norway, Marianne Ihlen decided to stay on Hydra with her baby son, partly due to her deepening friendship with Cohen.

Jensen struggled with the situation and three days later telegrammed Marianne Ihlen asking for her help.

At Cohen's urging, Marianne Ihlen left her son with him and travelled to Athens, where she maintained a vigil by Amlin's bed allowing Jensen to rest.

Marianne Ihlen was reluctant to make the long journey with her son.

Plans changed when by chance Marianne Ihlen came across some SAS Norwegian aircrew while they were relaxing in Hydra.

Marianne Ihlen divided her time between her house and Cohen's, though they took small breaks to explore the mainland together.

Marianne Ihlen signed her legal separation papers in February 1961, though her divorce would not be finalised for another year.

Marianne Ihlen occasionally modelled for Hydra-based artists, among them Anthony Kingsmill and Marcelle Maltais, whose painting of her resides in the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec.

Cohen returned to Montreal for a short period before he obtained passage on a cargo ship and re-joined Marianne Ihlen, who was then visiting Oslo.

Marianne Ihlen was able to obtain a job in a women's clothing boutique on Sainte Catherine Street.

Marianne Ihlen then had no further real schooling until at the age of 12 he was sent to a strict Swiss boarding school.

Axel Joachim returned to his mother and was nine years old when the pair moved to New York where Cohen was then based, with Marianne Ihlen hoping to re-establish their relationship.

Marianne Ihlen claimed that he considered her too pure, and wished to shield her and her son from his current debauched, bohemian lifestyle.

Consequently, Marianne Ihlen established a separate residence with her friend Carol Zemel who had recently moved to the city on Clinton Street on the Lower East Side.

Cohen and Marianne Ihlen remained close, with him paying her rent and her son's boarding schools in England and Switzerland as well as his airfare.

Marianne Ihlen took her for visits to the Chelsea Hotel, and to concerts, and introduced her to Andy Warhol, Joni Mitchell and Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Elrod wanted the house for herself, so Marianne Ihlen was forced to move out.

In 1973 Marianne Ihlen returned with her son to live a permanent, more structured life in Oslo, though she and Cohen stayed in touch periodically for the rest of her life.

Marianne Ihlen took a position with Norwegian Contractors, who specialized in the construction of offshore oil platforms, where she worked in the personnel and foreign departments.

Marianne Ihlen remained employed in the oil industry for the rest of her working life.

Late in her working life, Marianne Ihlen assisted actress Juni Dahr by making travel arrangements for her when she toured her solo shows Joan of Arc - Vision through Fire and then Ibsen Women - Put an Eagle in a Cage in Europe, Japan and the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Marianne Ihlen developed an interest in Tibetan Buddhism via the Centre for Growth in Denmark and spent time painting.

Marianne Ihlen was diagnosed with leukemia in late July 2016.

Marianne Ihlen wrote a poignant email to her, which is often misquoted by the media and others.

Marianne Ihlen died aged 81 on 28 July 2016, in Oslo.

Cohen dedicated his third volume of poetry, Flowers for Hitler, to Ihlen, with the poems For Marianne and Waiting for Marianne, dealing specifically with her.

Marianne Ihlen directly inspired many of his songs, in particular Bird on the Wire, Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye and So Long, Marianne on his first two albums, Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs from a Room.

From a window in that home, Marianne Ihlen once saw a bird perched on a newly installed telephone wire and remarked to Cohen that they looked like musical notes; she suggested he write a song about it.

About his song So Long, Marianne Ihlen Cohen commented on the back cover of Greatest Hits, 1976:.

Marianne Ihlen gave me many songs, and she has given songs to others too.

In June 2019 a collection of more than 50 love letters written by Leonard Cohen to Marianne Ihlen were sold at auction by Christie's for $876,000 with many selling for more than five times their pre-sale estimates.

Marianne Ihlen was a character in Polly Samson's 2020 novel A Theatre for Dreamers about the bohemian circle on Hydra in the 1960s.