Elsa Sigrid Collin (3 October 1887 – 29 June 1941) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

theatre critic, poet and actress.

Early life

Collin was the daughter of Knut Johan August Collin, a doctor in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

, and Sigrid Elvira Eskilsson. Elsa's mother died when she was just two years old; her father later remarried.

Career

After finishing school in 1906, Collin completed her

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968 ...

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 entered

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Collin became the first woman at any Swedish university to be part of a student spex show playing the part of Susanna, the chambermaid, in a spex called ''Gerda''; the spex also went on a tour to

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

and

. Collin was also active in the left-wing fraternity ''Den yngre gubben'' and wrote for the student paper with, among others,

Vilhelm Ekelund Vilhelm Ekelund (October 14, 1880 – September 3, 1949) was a Swedish poet. Career The works of Ekelund were influenced by Friedrich Hölderlin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Emanuel Swedenborg. His early career was lyrical, and though not widely re ...

, with whom she had a close relationship at the time. After completing her bachelor's degree in 1909, Collin moved to Stockholm and entered

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

, but mostly worked, initially as an actress in the theatre ensemble Lilla Teatern as well as Uppsala Teatern. Over time she came to work more for newspapers, first as a secretary at the Stockholm weekly ''Figaro'' and then as the Stockholm theatre critic for the Malmö newspaper ''Arbetet''. Collin published poetry in the Social Democratic women's magazine ''

Morgonbris ''Morgonbris'', full title ''Morgonbris: arbeterskornas tidning'' (meaning "Morning Breeze: Journal for working women"), is the magazine of the Social Democratic Women in Sweden. The magazine was founded by the Women's Trade Union in 1904. The fou ...

'', including two overtly political poems, "Det dagas" (Day is dawning) and "Giv ditt namn!" (Give your name!) written in association with the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

assemblies of 1912 and 1913. The title of the second refers to a petition effort; the poem became an anthem of the movement in Sweden. During her years in Stockholm, Collin became a close friend of writer and theatre leader Brita von Horn; the two women shared a residence in

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

. Together they created the theatre group the Dramatist Studio (''Dramatikerstudion'') and wrote a play for the group based on von Horn's book ''Aschebergskan på Wittskövle''. However, the piece did not receive its first performance until 1944, after Collin's death, when it was also

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

's inaugural production at the

Helsingborg City Theatre Helsingborg City Theatre ( sv, Helsingborgs stadsteater) is the city theatre of Helsingborg, Sweden. The present Helsingborg City Theatre was built in 1921, after the old Helsingborg Theatre (located at the same place, built in 1877) was demolish ...

Death

Collin died in 1941. Her funeral took place in Stockholm, but she was buried in the Nya kyrkogården (New Cemetery) in her birthplace Helsingborg.

Early life

Career

Death

References

Further reading