Morten Edvard Fallesen (29 January 1817 – 6 July 1894) was a Danish army officer, politician and theatre manager. He fought in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

and served as a member of both the upper and lower houses of the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands a ...

. From 1876 until his death at the age of 77, he was the General Director of the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

. Fallesen was appointed

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

King Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- ...

in 1872 and awarded the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

in 1876.

Life and career

Fallesen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, the son of Lorentz Nikolai Fallesen, a Protestant clergyman and theologian. He studied at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and then at the Royal Military College. After receiving his commission as a First Lieutenant in 1846, he was appointed to the

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

corps of the Danish Army. Fallesen served in both the

and

, eventually rising to the rank of Captain and serving as a member of the international commission that formulated the 1864 Treaty of Vienna. However, his health had suffered during the second Schleswig campaign, and he retired from active combat duty in 1865. His final military appointment was as Colonel of the Bornholm Regiment in 1866.Collin, Edgar (1915)
"Fallesen, Morten Edvard"
'' Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'', Vol. 5, pp. 57-58 Senelick, Laurence (1991)
''National Theatre in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1746-1900''
pp. 59–60. Cambridge University Press. Fallesen had been active in politics from 1858 when he became the member for Assens in the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

(at the time the lower house of the Danish Parliament). He held the seat until 1866. From 1874 until 1882 he served as the member for

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

in the Landsting (upper house of the Danish Parliament). Known for the eloquence of his debating style, he was essentially independent but on major issues voted with the conservative Højre Party. Flora Fallesen by Jens Petersen

In 1876 Fallesen was awarded the

and in July of that year was appointed head of the

, a position he held until his death in 1894. Although considered an unlikely choice for the post, his stewardship was credited with reinvigorating the company, reform of its practices and repertoire, and improvement in working conditions for its actors and staff. According to theatre historian Laurence Senelick, his management style had benefited from his experience and skills as a politician and his close personal ties to

to whom he had been appointed

in 1872. Falleson was married twice. His first marriage in 1851 to Pouline Funck (1825–1879) was dissolved in 1858. She was a ballet dancer who had made her debut in the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. ...

of the Royal Danish Theatre in 1840 and her debut as a soloist in 1848. Her mother, Wilhelmine Rosine Funck, was an opera singer at the theatre, and her father, Poul Funck, was a ballet dancer and noted choreographer. Falleson's second wife was the actress Amanda Flora Mathilde ''née'' Thomsen whom he married in 1865. The daughter of Ove Thomsen, a Danish journalist and politician, she had made her debut at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1857 as Madame Renaud in ''Husholdningspolitik'' (''Household Diplomacy'') and for several seasons acted at the Casino theatre in Copenhagen.Zachariae, F. (1917)
''Den danske skueplads' historie, fra dens oprindelse i 1722 til 1900''
pp. 192; 287 Edvard Fallesen died at the age of 77 after having been taken ill in

Ville d'Avray Ville-d'Avray () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune is part of the arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine department. In 2019, it had a population of 1 ...

, France where he had been on holiday. He is buried in the Solbjerg Parkkirkegård cemetery in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

.Kendtes Gravsted
Morten Edvard Fallesen
Retrieved 16 June 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallesen, Edvard 1817 births 1894 deaths Danish military personnel Members of the Folketing Danish theatre managers and producers Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog 19th-century Danish people