Henrik Johan Ibsen
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Henrik Ibsen, born in 1828, is called the father of modern drama. His 1879 play A Doll’s House shocked audiences with its portrayal of a wife leaving her family. He wrote 26 plays, including Peer Gynt and Hedda Gabler, and died in 1906.
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Henrik Ibsen — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Henrik Ibsen entered the world on March 20, 1828, in Stockmannsgerden, Skien, Norway. His father Knud was a merchant who gave up his business in 1835, moving the family to Venstop farm in Gjerpen. In 1843, Ibsen was confirmed at Gjerpen church and left home to apprentice to chemist Jens Aarup Reinmann. Three years later, his first son was born by Else Sophie Jesdatter, an illegitimate child that would shadow his early life.
In 1849, Ibsen wrote his first play, Catiline, which was published in 1850. On September 26, 1850, his first staging, The Burial Mound, premiered at Christiania Theater. From 1853 to 1877, he wrote plays including The Vikings at Helgeland, Brand, and Peer Gynt. In 1878, he moved to Rome and wrote his major late plays: A Doll’s House 1879, Ghosts 1881, An Enemy of the People 1882, The Wild Duck 1884, Rosmersholm 1886, The Lady from the Sea 1888, Hedda Gabler 1890, The Master Builder 1892, Little Eyolf 1894, John Gabriel Borkman 1896, and When We Dead Awaken 1898.
Ibsen married Suzannah Thoresen in 1858, and their son Sigurd was born in 1859. He also had an illegitimate son, Hans Jacob Henriksen, born in 1846 with Else Sophie Jensdatter. Ibsen lived abroad for 27 years, mostly in Italy and Germany, rarely visiting Norway during his productive years. He suffered strokes from 1900 onward and died at his home in Kristiania on May 23, 1906, with his last words On the contrary.
Ibsen is called the father of modern drama and the most performed playwright after Shakespeare. His works influenced George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Arthur Miller, and many others. In 2006, his death centenary was commemorated with an Ibsen year. Asteroid 5696 Ibsen was named after him in 1995. He received multiple orders including the Grand Cross of St. Olav. His play A Doll’s House was the world’s most performed play in 2006.
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The Strongest Man in the World Is the Man Who Stands Alone.
Little-known facts about Henrik Ibsen — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He is called the father of modern drama. His grandson Tancred Ibsen became a film director.
He is called the father of modern drama because his influential plays dealt with shocking issues like venereal disease, a wife abandoning her family, and suicide. He also wrote verse dramas like Peer Gynt, for which Edvard Grieg’s music is now performed more often than the play.
Dubbed one of the four greats in Norwegian literature, together with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Alexander Kielland, and Jonas Lie.
In 1846 he had an illegitimate child by Else Sophie Jensdatter, a servant.
On December 23, 1859 his son Sigurd was born.
His play Hedda Gabler at the Writers Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2014 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Play Production.
Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare.
In 1995, the asteroid 5696 Ibsen was named in his memory.
Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director.
He is called the father of realism and one of the most influential playwrights of his time.
His three-act play A Doll’s House was the world’s most performed play in 2006.
He received the Grand Cross of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and the Grand Cross of the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, and was Knight, First Class of the Order of Vasa.
Ibsen himself regarded Emperor and Galilean as his masterpiece.
He had a critical eye and conducted a free inquiry into conditions of life and morality. Many critics consider The Wild Duck and Rosmersholm vying for the top place among his works.
Ibsen is ranked as one of the most distinguished playwrights in the European tradition and is regarded as the foremost playwright of the nineteenth century.
Ibsen was decorated Knight in 1873, Commander in 1892, and with the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav in 1893.
The 100th anniversary of Ibsen’s death in 2006 was commemorated with an Ibsen year in Norway and other countries.
Ibsen wrote his plays in Danish, the common written language of Denmark and Norway during his lifetime, and they were published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal.
In 2012, Håkon Anton Fagerås made a marble statue of Ibsen for the Ibsen Museum in Oslo.
On 23 May 1906, Ibsen died at his home at Arbins gade 1 in Kristiania after a series of strokes. His last words were On the contrary when a nurse said he was a little better.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902, 1903, and 1904.
In 2011, Håkon Anton Fagerås made two bronze busts of Ibsen: one for Parco Ibsen in Sorrento, Italy and one in Skien kommune.
Ibsen’s later work examined realities behind facades, revealing disquieting truths to contemporaries.
Although most of his plays are set in Norway, Ibsen lived for 27 years in Italy and Germany, rarely visiting Norway during his most productive years.
He was the father of Prime Minister Sigurd Ibsen and his dramas strongly influenced contemporary culture.
He influenced playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, Marguerite Yourcenar, James Joyce, Eugene O’Neill, and Miroslav Krleza.
After Peer Gynt, Ibsen abandoned verse and wrote in realistic prose. Several later dramas scandalized audiences by challenging family morals.
Ibsen’s early poetic play Peer Gynt has strong surreal elements.
Ibsen’s dramas were informed by his own background in the merchant elite of Skien, and he often modeled or named characters after family members.
The name Ibsen is originally a patronymic meaning son of Ib. It became a frozen family name in the 17th century.
His wife, though frequently ill and suffering from gout, outlived him by eight years.
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