Anna Katarina Bergström-Simonsson (30 December 1853 – 30 January 1937) was a Swedish

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in singi ...

who first taught in Swedish girls' schools and later at the Royal Seminary for Women in Stockholm. From 1903 to 1920, she was engaged by the Royal Conservatory, becoming a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

in 1912. In 1914, she was awarded the

Litteris et Artibus Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature. The ob ...

for her services to Swedish culture.

Biography

Born on 30 December 1853 in Färnebo near

Filipstad Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...

, Anna Katarina Bergström was the daughter of the miner Olof Larsson Bergström and his wife Brita Cajsa née Nilsson. She was one of the family's 11 children. From 1873 to 1876 she studied at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm, graduating as an organist. From 1876 to 1880, she was a singing teacher in Filipstad, after which she taught in several other girls' schools in Stockholm, including the . From 1897, she taught voice at the Royal Seminary for Women and from 1903 to 1920, she headed the test department at the Royal Conservatory. Thanks to a grant from the Royal Music Academy, she went on a number of study trips to the surrounding countries and attended the international school singing meeting in 1905 in Copenhagen. Bergström-Simonsson was widely recognized for her teaching methods at the Conservatory and the Seminary, receiving warm appreciation from her students for her enthusiasm. In collaboration with the voice teacher at the Gothenburg teachers' training college Olof Holmberg, for a number of years she gave courses based on a systematic approach to singing teaching which was applied in Swedish schools by the folk school authorities. In 1914, she was awarded the Litteris et Artibus for her services to Swedish culture. In 1916 she married Jonas Didrik Simonsson, the director of the Gothenburg-Stockholm-Dalarna transport authority. She became a member of

Nya Idun Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". There was a ...

, a Swedish women's association, in 1899. Anna Bergström-Simonsson died in Stockholm on 30 January 1937.

Works

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergstrom.Simonsson, Anna 1853 births 1937 deaths People from Filipstad Municipality Voice teachers Swedish educators Swedish women educators Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Litteris et Artibus recipients Members of Nya Idun