Tordis Gjems Selmer (June 2, 1886 – February 15, 1964) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

singer. Selmer was born in

Balsfjord Balsfjord ( sme, Báhccavuotna ; fkv, Paatsivuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storsteinnes. Other villages include Mestervik, Mortenhals, and Nordkjo ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the son of the district physician Alfred Selmer and the actress and writer

Ågot Gjems Selmer Ågot Gjems Selmer, also Ågot Gjems-Selmer, (27 October 1857 – 25 September 1926) was a Norwegian actress, writer, and lecturer. Biography Gjems-Selmer was born into a wealthy family in Kongsvinger, Norway. She was the eldest of nine sibling ...

. She was the sister of the actor Alfred Gjems Selmer (1893–1919), and her younger sister was the actress and writer

Lillemor von Hanno Lillemor von Hanno (née Bergljot Selmer; 30 December 1900 – 5 April 1984) was a Norwegian actress, novelist and playwright. Personal life Von Hanno was born in Balsfjord, the daughter of the actress Ågot Gjems Selmer (1858–1926) and the ...

(1900–1984). Selmer took voice lessons in Oslo, Berlin, and London, and she toured the Nordic countries. She was engaged at the

Chat Noir Chat Noir ( French for 'black cat') is a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1912 by Bokken Lasson. The current director is Tom Sterri. Establishment Chat Noir was established as a cabaret in 1912 by singer Bokken L ...

cabaret from 1916 to 1917, and she worked as a culture journalist for the women's magazine '' Urd'' from 1925 onward. Her father died in 1919 after falling off a horse while visiting a sick patient, and her brother Alfred died the same year. After her mother's death in 1926, Selmer ran a boarding house in the family home, Soleglad, which her father had purchased in 1903. There, among other things, she hosted a cultural café during the Second World War together with the opera singer

Randi Helseth Randi Helseth (February 9, 1905 – September 24, 1991) was a Norwegian singer. Helseth was born in Oslo. She made her debut in 1934 as a concert singer, and in 1938 as an opera singer. Helseth was associated with the National Theatre in Oslo, ...

(1905–1991). In 1956, Selmer married her childhood friend, the land consolidation judge Lars Eknes, who sold the home in 1965 after Selmer died in 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selmer, Tordis Gjems 1886 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Norwegian women opera singers Norwegian music journalists People from Balsfjord People from Ås, Akershus