Gertrud Elisabeth Forsselius née ''Forsell'', also called Forselia, later known as Elisabet Haeffner and Elisabet Fahlgren (23 January 1771 – 15 February 1850), was a Swedish stage actress and opera singer. She belonged to the pioneer generation of 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 ...

Life

Elisabeth Forsselius is believed to have been the daughter of the clerk Jacob Forssell (d. 1807) and Anna Magdalena Schylander (1778-1848). She was the sister of the opera singer Gustava Rebecka Forsselia (1772-?). She married the composer

Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner Johann Christian Friedrich Hæffner (2 March 1759 in Oberschönau – 28 May 1833 in Uppsala) was a German-born Swedish composer. Hæffner received his first musical education with the Schmalkalden organist Johann Gottfried Vierling. He st ...

in 1787, divorced him in 1807 and remarried the opera singer Johan Jacob Fahlgren (1786-1848), who had previously been the student of her husband and their tenant, the following year.

Career

Elisabeth Forsselius was active both as an opera singer and an actress, but she had most success as an actress. She enrolled as a student at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

in 1783, and continued to be active there in a minor capacity until 1810. In 1785-87, she was engaged at the Stenborg Theatre, where she made a favorable debut in a

breeches role A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role, or Hosenrolle) is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced. The theatric ...

in a pastoral

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

. In 1787, she was engaged at the Swedish language Ristell theater at

Bollhuset Bollhuset, also called (The Big Ball House), (Ball House Theater), and Gamla Bollhuset (Old Ball House) at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater buildin ...

Adolf Fredrik Ristell Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

. When Ristell when bankrupt and fled the country to escape his creditors the year after, the theater was transformed by king

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

to Royal Dramatic Theatre, and the actors formed a board of directors, which ruled the theater until 1803. In the rapports of Armfelt, who observed the board meetings as a representative of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architec ...

, Elisabeth Forsselius was described as irresponsible and capricious - however, these sessions where known to be stormy, and if the judgement was correct, she was far from alone in being so. Elisabeth Forsselius was described as an excellent dramatic actress particularly within comedy. She frequently played

s and

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

roles, and her appearance allowed her to play teenage boys and girls until her last years on the stage. Like many of her generation of actors at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, she retired after the 1810-11 season.

Roles

She played Anna in ''Siri Brahe och Johan Gyllenstierna'' by

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

in 1788 and 1790 and the title role of ''

Minna von Barnhelm ''Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness'' (german: Minna von Barnhelm oder das Soldatenglück, ) is a ''lustspiel'' or comedy by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It has five acts, was begun in 1763 and completed in 1767 – ...

'' by

Lessing Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman". Lessing may refer to: A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a lin ...

in 1793. Among her other parts were Sidonie in '' Armide'' by

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

in the season 1786–1787, Ismene in ''Elektra'' (by Hæffner) in 1787–1788, Delia in '' Les trois sultanes'', a play by Favart in 1789–1790, Weakness in ''Alcides inträde i världen'' in 1793–1794 and Armide in ''Renaud'' (both also by Hæffner) in 1800–1801, and the marchioness in ''Griselda'' by Friedrich Halms in 1809–1810.Nordensvan, Georg, Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Förra delen, 1772-1842, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1917(Swedish theatre and Swedish actors from Gustav III to our days. First book 1772–1842) (Swedish)

References

Samlaren / Åttonde årgången. 1887
(Swedish) * Flodmark, Johan, Stenborgska skådebanorna: bidrag till Stockholms teaterhistoria, Norstedt, Stockholm, 1893 (Swedish) * Svenska teaterns repertoar 1773-1973 Repertoire of the royal theatre 1773-1973'(Swedish) * Näslund, Erik, Sörenson, Elisabeth & Bergman, Ingmar (red.), Kungliga Dramatiska teatern 1788-1988: jubileumsföreställning i fyra akter, Bra böcker, Höganäs, 1988 (Swedish) * Bohman, Nils & Dahl, Torsten (red.), Svenska män och kvinnor: biografisk uppslagsbok, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1942-1955 (Swedish) * Svenskt biografiskt lexikon wedish biographical dictionary(Swedish) * Ahnfelt, Arvid (red.), Europas konstnärer: alfabetiskt ordnade biografier öfver vårt århundrades förnämsta artister. Supplementhäfte till Europas konstnärer, Norrköping, 1889 (Swedish) * Nordensvan, Georg, Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Förra delen, 1772-1842, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1917(Swedish theatre and Swedish actors from Gustav III to our days. First book 1772–1842) (Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsselius, Gertrud Elisabeth 1771 births 1850 deaths 18th-century Swedish women opera singers 18th-century Swedish actresses 19th-century Swedish actresses 19th-century Swedish women opera singers Gustavian era people