She was born Dinesen on April 17, 1885, and was christened Karen Christentze. Her family called her "Tanne," which was her own mispronunciation of Karen and a nickname - forever diminutive - that she disliked. She subsequently took or acquired other names: Osceola, her first pseudonym; Baroness von Blixen-Finecke, by her marriage to a Swedish cousin; Tania and Jerie to her white and black African familiars, respectively; Isak, "the one who" - with a certain noble perversity - "laughs." Her admirers often called her after her own characters or imaginary incarnations. To a childhood playmate she was "Lord Byron." To her secretary she was the old battle horse, Khamar. To various literary disciples she was Pellegrina, Amiane, or Scheherazade. In Denmark, when she was elderly, she was spoken of and to almost universally as Baronessen, the Baroness, in the third person, according to feudal usage. The name on her tombstone is Karen Blixen.
- From Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman
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