Thora Hansson (December 2, 1848 – September 11, 1917) was a Norwegian actress and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. She made her stage début at

Christiania Theater Hotel Christiania Teater – is a historic Oslo city hotel and landmark built in 1918, known primarily for the notability of its theater inside the hotel and recently its unique hotel design by Annemone Wille Waage. The 102-unit hotel is locate ...

in 1871, and worked at this theatre until 1899. Thora Hanssom was the first actress to portray Solveig in

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

s play

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

when it premiered in 1876. She was the first manager of the theatre

Trondhjems nationale Scene Trondhjems nationale Scene was a theatre that opened in Trondheim in 1911, and closed in 1927. The theatre's first artistical director was Thora Hansson, from 1911 to 1913. The opening performance was held on 15 September 1911, with Bjørnstjerne Bj ...

, from 1911 to 1913. From 1914 until her death in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

at age of 69 in 1917, she was director of the theatre in

. She was born in Christiania (now called

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

). Her parents were Jørgen Friederich Neelsen (1808–1862), an architect, and Julie Hedvig Rustad (1821–1878). Thora was married to theatre director

Olaf Mørch Hansson Olaf Mørch Hansson (28 July 1856 – 22 February 1912) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director, journalist and newspaper editor. He was married to Thora Hansson from 1880 to 1896, and then to Agnethe Schibsted-Hansson from 1896 to 1912. Biogr ...

(1856–1912) between 1880 and 1896. They were parents to Thorolf Mørch Hansson (1881–1952), a diplomat, and

Gunnar Neels-Hansson Gunnar Neels-Hansson (27 July 1883 – 9 June 1967) was a Norwegian theatre director. He was born in Kristiania to Thora Elisabeth Neelsen and Olaf Mørch Hansson. His daughter Thora Neels-Hansson was married to Per Schwab. Neels-Hansson was ...

(1883–1967), who became a theatre director. Gunnar was the father of the actress

Thora Neels-Hansson Thora Elisabeth Neels-Hansson (also known as Nøste Schwab) (November 29, 1918 – December 15, 2007) was a Norwegian actress. Thora Elisabeth Neels-Hansson was born in Stavanger, Norway, on November 29, 1918. She was best known for her role as ...

(1918–2007), better known as Nøste Schwab.

References

1848 births 1917 deaths Actresses from Oslo Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian theatre directors {{Norway-actor-stub