Bjørn Bjørnson (15 November 1859 – 14 May 1942) was a Norwegian

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

He was born in Christiania, the son of author

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

and his wife

Karoline Bjørnson Karoline Bjørnson (née Reimers, 1 December 1835 – 27 June 1934) was a Norwegian actress. She is best known as the wife and supporter of poet, playwright, popular speaker and Nobel laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Biography Karoline ...

. In 1876, he was admitted as a student at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Musi ...

operated by

Julius Stern Julius Stern (8 August 1820 – 27 February 1883) was a Jewish German musical pedagogue and composer. Biography Stern was born at Breslau. He received his elementary education in music from the violinist Peter Lüstner, and at the age of nine p ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He also attended the Vienna Conservatory. He was the artistic leader of

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the firs ...

from 1885 to 1893, and he was the first theatre director at the National Theatre, from its opening in 1899 until 1907, and again from 1923 to 1927. Besides being an actor and director, he also was a playwright. In 1893 he married Norwegian opera singer

Gina Oselio Gina Oselio (19 November 1858 – 4 May 1937) was a Norwegian operatic mezzo-soprano. Her signature role was the title heroine in Georges Bizet's ''Carmen''. Personal life Oselio was born in Christiania as Ingeborg Mathilde Laura Aas, a daug ...

. Their marriage was dissolved in 1909.

Selected works

Plays

* ''Moppy og Poppy'' (with M. O. Hansson), (1885) * ''Johanne'', (1898) * ''Solen skinner jo'' (1913) * ''En tørst kamel'', (1919)

Books

*''Vom deutschen Wesen: Impressionen eines Stammverwandten 1914-1917'', (1917) *''Mit livs historier. Fra barndommens dage'', (1922) *''Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Hjemmet og vennene. Aulestad-minner'', (1932) *''Bare ungdom'', (1934 *''Det gamle teater. Kunsten og menneskene'', (1937)

References

External links

* *

Other sources

*Rønneberg, Anton (1974) ''Nationaltheatret, 1949-1974'' (Gyldendal) *Marker, Frederick J. and Lise-Lone Marker (1996) ''A History of Scandinavian Theatre'' (Cambridge University Press) *Murer, Annette with Julian Garner translator (1977) ''The National Theatre of Norway'' (Boksenteret) 1859 births 1942 deaths Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian male stage actors Male actors from Oslo Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour {{Norway-actor-stub