Marie Caroline Bjelke Petersen[1] (23 December 1874 – 11 October 1969) was a Danish-Australian novelist and physical culture teacher.

Marie Bjelke Petersen's biographer, Alison Alexander, wrote: "With her Danish background Marie was not steeped in the laconic lore of the bush propagated by the Bulletin and its school of admirers, and she set out to glorify her adopted land, to depict Australia as a cultured civilised place, with charming people (setting aside the villains), a quite different portrayal from that usually found in the literature of her day.

[3] Her brothers founded physical culture institutes which continued to function through the end of the 20th century, and her nephew, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, became the Premier of Queensland.

Marie Bjelke Petersen was the only daughter and second child of Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen, a gardener and then master builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine, née Hansen.

[4] A conservative herself, she numbered among her friends Marie Pitt the poet and socialist activist who lived openly and indeed notoriously with her married lover.

Marie was in charge of the women's section and taught there and at other schools before turning to writing[9] in 1910 when injury meant she could no longer teach.

Marie is credited with introducing drills designed specifically for players of the game into the physical culture program she taught in schools.

[6] It was based on a guide who sang at Tasmania's Marakoopa Cave and was a financial success[3] selling 150,000 copies in English and a further 40,000 in Danish translation.

[13] Her novels were distinguished by a fresh literary take on Australian life, closely observed scenery and social background and, by the standards of the romance genre, comparatively non-stereotyped characterisation and plot.