Frans Theodor Hedberg (2 March 1828 – 8 June 1908) 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 ...

playwright and poet. He is also known by his pseudonyms: Esbern Snare, Palle Block, and Paul Qvitt.

Biography

He was born at

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. After growing up in an orphanage he tried various professions, including that of

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 (), li ...

and

wig-maker A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

, before he set seriously to work as a playwright in 1854. Afterwards he was appointed a reader, and then teacher, at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm (1861), and later director of the New Theatre,

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 ...

(1881). In 1883 he gave up this position to devote himself entirely to writing. His works include comedies, tragedies, adaptations, translations, vaudevilles, and poems. The best known of his plays is ''Bröllopet på Ulfåsa'' (The Wedding at Ulfåsa; 1865). He also wrote ''Svenska skådespelare: karakteristiker och porträtter'' (Swedish Actors: Characteristics and Portraits, 1884) and ''Svenska operasångare: karakteristiker och porträtter'' (Swedish Opera Singers: Characteristics and Portraits, 1885) as well as other works dealing with theater subjects.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedberg, Frans Theodor 1828 births 1908 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Swedish dramatists and playwrights 19th-century male writers