Vilhelm Dybwad (12 February 1863 – 16 March 1950) was a Norwegian barrister and writer. He wrote comedies, revues and songs. In his later years he wrote several memoir books from his life as a lawyer.

Personal life

Dybwad was born in Christiania as the son of bookseller Jacob Dybwad (1823–1899) and Anne Margrethe Grøntvedt Aabel (1831–1873). He was a brother of architect Peter Dybwad. He was married to actress Johanne Dybwad from 1891 to 1916, and to singer

Bokken Lasson Caroline "Bokken" Lasson (7 January 1871 – 3 August 1970) was a Norwegian concert and cabaret singer. She is known for starting the Oslo cabaret Chat Noir in 1912, and also for introducing the children's song "Tuppen og Lillemor" to the Nor ...

from August 1916. Both his wives are honoured with sculptures in Oslo. His son with Johanne, Nils Juell Dybwad, became a barrister. Nils married a sister of Carl Boye Semb and had the daughter Johanne "Hannemor" Dybwad, an alpine skier who married barrister Peder "Per" Gram.

Career

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1881, and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

with the cand.jur. degree in 1886. After studying in Berlin and Paris, he was a junior solicitor in Kristiania for two years. In 1890 he opened his own lawyer's office, and from 1892 he was a barrister with access to working with Supreme Court cases. While studying he had written and played in the Norwegian Students' Society theatre. He later translated and wrote plays and operettes for

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 ...

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christia ...

and Centralteatret. Among his best known works is the musical comedy ''Ola Lia'', written together with Olaf Krohn and staged in 1905 with Hauk Aabel in the leading role. The farce ''Verdens undergang'' followed in 1906 and ''Sterke Mænd'' in 1907, both at Centralteatret. After marrying Bokken Lasson in 1916, he started writing revue and cabarets for

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 Las ...

, several of which were issued in Bokken Lasson's 1920 book ''67 Viser fra det gamle Chat Noir''. From 1927 to 1931 Dybwad worked as a public defender at

Oslo City Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court o ...

and Aker District Court. He was also a prolific memoirist, both from his legal career—''På anklagebenken. Små hverdagshistorier fra rettssalen'' (1933), ''Skyldig eller ikke skyldig'' (1934), ''Retten er satt'' (1937), ''Glade minner fra spredte år'' (1950)—and from his life in general: ''Mestertjuer og skøierjenter for hundre år siden'' (1935), ''Venner og kjenninger fra 80-årene'' (1941). In 1942 he wrote a biography on his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dybwad, Vilhelm 1863 births 1950 deaths Musicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian lawyers Norwegian composers Norwegian male composers Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian memoirists Norwegian biographers Norwegian male writers Male biographers Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Public defenders