Gustav Fonandern (1880-1960) was a Swedish architect, singer and recording artist, who spent considerable time in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 1920s. Gustav Fonandern ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: December 26, 2011.

Architect and entertainer

As a young man Fonandern studied to be an architect. Upon graduation he opened his own firm in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

. It wasn’t long, however, before he began performing in cabarets in addition to his work as a draftsman.Gustav Fonandern.
''atspace.cc''. Retrieved: June 21, 2019. Eventually the singing took over, but he continued with his architectural activities when time allowed.''Arbetarbladet'' September 6, 2009. During the 1910s and 1920s Fonandern toured frequently and performed in Sweden's folk parks. In 1921 he embarked on an American tour, which took him from coast to coast by automobile, something never done by a Swedish artist before. In Duluth, Minnesota Fonandern gave his first ever radio performance. Gustav Fonandern stayed in the

off and on from 1921 through 1926. When he was not on tour or in the recording studio, he worked as an architect in

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and other cities. In addition to buildings in

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and

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, he designed 150 houses and a large hotel on

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, outside of

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. After returning to

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 ...

Fonandern continued to tour, this time by car, which was so unusual at the time that advertising posters read: "Performance by GUSTAV FONANDERN, architect and ballad singer with his own car!". Despite his great success as an entertainer, Fonandern never put away the drafting pen for good. In the early 1930s he founded yet another architectural firm, this time on Drottninggatan in

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 ...

Legacy

Gustav Fonandern recorded more than two hundred fifty songs in

and over forty in the

. His releases on the Columbia and

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labels introduced current

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 ...

hits to his countrymen abroad.''Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942'' by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) LCCN 89-020526. Volume 5, pp. 2693-2695.
/ref> The Swedish-American singer Olga Lindgren-Nilsen, who was married to

Olle i Skratthult Hjalmar Peterson was a singer and comedian from Sweden, who achieved great popularity during the 1910s and 1920s. His stage name was Olle i Skratthult (Olle from Laughtersville). Life Career Hjalmar Peterson was born in Munkfors, Värmland o ...

in the 1920s, gave credit to Fonandern, Lydia Hedberg (Bergslagsmor) and other performers from

for providing much of her new material.''From Sweden To America'' (Stockholm: Caprice Records, 1981). The Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research had one recording by Fonandern and two by Hedberg on its album "From Sweden To America", which was released as an LP in 1981 and as a CD in 1996. In 2011 the twenty-three tracks on the CD were released on

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and

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. In 2016 the Minnesota Historical Society opened an online archive of Swedish American newspapers. These historic publications give many accounts of Gustav Fonandern's American performances and recordings in the years 1921 – 1926. Search term is "Gustav Fonandern".Swedish American newspapers
''mhs.org''. Retrieved: February 1, 2017.

Gallery

File:Gustav Fonandern, porträtt - SMV - GF039.tif, Gustav Fonandern 1910s File:Gustav Fonandern, porträtt - SMV - GF040.tif, Gustav Fonandern 1910s File:Gustav Fonandern LCCN2014718108.jpg, Gustav Fonandern 1920s

References

External links

Fonandern on the Drottningholm in 1922Gustav Fonandern - Victor discography

Gustav Fonandern audio at the National Library of SwedenGustav Fonandern audio at Gustavus Adolphus CollegeFonandern articles and advertisements 1914-1921Fonandern articles and advertisements1923-1925"Gustav from Gävle" - 2009 article

Gustav Fonandern songbook 01Gustav Fonandern songbook 02Gustav Fonandern 01 at the Internet Archive

Gustav Fonandern 02 at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonandern, Gustav 1880 births 1960 deaths Columbia Records artists People from Gävle 20th-century Swedish male singers Victor Records artists Burials at Skogskyrkogården