BEHN, ban, Aphra, or Aphara, English novelist and dramatist: b. Wye, Kent. 1640; d. London, 16 April 1689. She was the daughter of John Johnson, a barber; went to Surinam, then an English possession, when she was very young, and remained there some years, during which time she became acquainted with the native prince, Oroonoko, whom she made the subject of a novel, subsequently dramatized by Thomas Southern. On her return she married Mr. Behn, a London merchant, but was probably a widow when selected by Charles II to acquire intelligence on the Continent during the Dutch War. She took up her residence at Antwerp, and it is said that, by means of one of her admirers, she obtained notice of the intention of the Dutch to sail up the Thames, and trans mitted the news to England. This intelligence being discredited, she returned to England, and devoted herself to intrigue and writing for support. She published three volumes of poems,
by Rochester, Etherege, Crisp and others, with some poetry of her own; and wrote 17 plays, the heartless licentiousness of which was dis graceful both to her sex and to the age which tolerated the performance of them. She was also the author of a couple of volumes of novels, and of the celebrated love-letters be tween a nobleman and his sister-in-law (Lord Gray and Lady Henrietta Berkeley). Pope, in his 'Character of Women,' alludes to Mrs. Behn, under the poetical name of AsTar_A : ' Thestage how loosely does Astrea tread. Who fairly puts her characters to bed.' She was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. An edition of her works was published in London (1872). Consult Anglia for Jan uary 1902.