Mathilde Georgine "Tilla" Valstad (30 July 1871 – 5 August 1957) was a Norwegian teacher, novelist and journalist.

Biography

Tilla Valstad was born at

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

, Norway. She was the daughter of ship owner Johan Henrik Christiansen (1823–1904) and Mathilde Georgine Hvistendahl (1834–1911). She graduated at

Hartvig Nissen School The Hartvig Nissen School ( no, Hartvig Nissens skole), informally referred to as Nissen, is a gymnasium in Oslo, Norway. It is located in the neighborhood Uranienborg in the affluent West End borough of Frogner. It is Norway's oldest high schoo ...

in Kristiania (now Oslo) in 1889 and then began working as a teacher at

. In 1893 she married

Otto Valstad Otto Valstad (11 December 1862 – 20 June 1950) was a Norwegian educator, painter, book illustrator and children's writer. Biography He was born at Asker in Akershus, Norway. He was the son of Andreas Olsen Valstad (1828–1911) and Lisa Jo ...

(1862-1952), who was also a teacher in Tønsberg. In 1899 the couple moved to her husband's home at

Hvalstad Hvalstad is a village and a small part of the municipality of Asker. Hvalstad has slightly over 2,000 inhabitants, a number that has doubled since the 1970s. Hvalstad lies 20 kilometres from the centre of Oslo. Hvalstad Station is on the Drammen ...

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken county, ...

. Tilla Valstad was a teacher at Vaterland School at

Vaterland Vaterland means "Fatherland" in German. It may also refer to: *Vaterland, Norway, a neighborhood in Oslo *The ocean liner SS ''Vaterland'', later known as SS ''Leviathan'' *''Liechtensteiner Vaterland'', largest daily newspaper in Liechtenstein ...

Kristiania 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 ...

from 1898 to 1920, and was the first woman in Kristiania who worked as a teacher after being married. In 1920, the couple started an open-air school which offered outdoor activities and education to disadvantaged and sick children from Kristiania. Otto and Tilla Valstad were avid art collectors and their home in Hvalstad became a cultural centre. In 1949, they willed their property to Asker municipality. It now forms part of Asker Museum and contains their extensive collection of art and cultural-historical objects. Her literary debut was ''Et år i Vaterland'' from 1925. Her main literary work is the trilogy ''Teodora'', ''Teodora kommer hjem'' and ''Men størst av alt er kjærlighet'', published between 1933 and 1941.

References

External links

Asker museum website
1871 births 1957 deaths Writers from Tønsberg 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian journalists {{norway-writer-stub