Johanne Sofie "Janken" Wiel-Hansen (11 July 1868 - 3 April 1938) was a Norwegian-Swedish athlete, feminist and a pioneer in fencing and swordsmanship.
Her father belonged to one of the town's wealthy patrician families, who were involved in shipping and trading in timber products.
He had trained as a forester in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria where he met and married Juliane Catharina Josepha (Julie) Steigerwald.
In addition to fencing, she enjoyed cycling, gymnastics, horse riding, rowing, sailing, skiing and skating.
The Stockholm Women's Fencing Club closed shortly after Wiel-Hansen's death, and became part of the larger, male organisation Föreningen för Fäktkonstens Främjande.
[4] Wiel-Hansen's surviving photo albums contain pictures of her posing as a fencer, as Napoleon and as a Bavarian youth in Tyrolean costume with a pipe in her mouth.
These plays were written by Janken Wiel-Hansen's life partner, Ida von Plomgren, also a successful fencer.
Ida von Plomgren was active in feminist circles and employed by the Fredrika Bremer Association.
[4] Ida von Plomgren and Wiel-Hansen shared a house and lived at the same address for at least the last 15 years of the latter's life.
Sculptor Carl Milles portrayed her in the sculpture Skrattet (Laughter) in 1909,[10][2] which is on display at Millesgården on Lidingö.
[2] In 2019, a suitcase labelled "W-H. resgods Stockholm" was found in the stores of Østfold Museums, as part of a move and redocumentation of collections from the fortress in Halden to more modern storage facilities.
[4] They used it to create Janken - The Fencing Lady, an exhibition, film and learning resources about Wiel-Hansen's life in the newly opened Halden Museum.