Astrid Assefa, born ''Astrid Margaretha Engelbrektsson'', is an Ethiopian-Swedish singer, actress and theater director. She was born on February 7, 1953 in

Arvika Arvika is a locality and the seat of Arvika Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 14,244 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The town of Arvika is situated at Kyrkviken, a bay of Glafsfjorden, Sweden's only inland fjord, a remnant of the time ...

, a locality and the seat of Arvika Municipality in Värmland County of Sweden. She is best known for her acting appearances in ''

Cool Kids Don't Cry ''Achtste Groepers Huilen Niet'' (English: ''Eighth Graders Don't Cry'', also known as ''Cool Kids Don't Cry'') is a 2012 family drama that was directed by Dennis Bots. The film is an adaptation of the Dutch book of the same name by Jacques Vrie ...

'' (2014), '' Stockholm East'' (2011) and '' 30:e November'' (1995).

Career

Born in 1953 in Sweden, Assefa studied at the state stage school in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

and has been involved with the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

, The

Riksteatern Riksteatern is the name of the popular ''"National Touring Theatre"/"National Theatre Company"'' (~Eng. transl.) in Sweden. It's the biggest theatre company on tour in Sweden and can, in one way, almost be described as Sweden's national stage ...

(Sweden's largest tour theater), the Folkeatern in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

and

Stockholm City Theatre Stockholm City Theatre ( sv, Stockholms stadsteater) is live performance theater located in Stockholm, Sweden. The theatre is situated near the Sergel fountain and the Stockholm City roundabout. Location It is located in one of Stockholm's m ...

. She worked as a theater teacher at the

University of Addis Ababa Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...

in Ethiopia, the country of her origin. She served as head of the Dalateatern theater in Falun and became chairman of the board of The Dramatic Institute, now Stockholm Drama College. She once served as an expert on the State Investigation Immigration Policy Committee. She also participated as a guest in ''

Allsång på Skansen ''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing along with musical guest stars to well-known Swedish and internati ...

'', an all-song program in Stockholm broadcast in Swedish Television almost every summer since August 3, 1979. In 2005 Assefa debuted on "Summer on P1", a program on Sweden's Radio P1 broadcast every summer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assefa, Astrid 1953 births Living people Swedish actresses Swedish women singers Swedish theatre directors Women theatre directors People from Arvika Municipality Swedish people of Ethiopian descent