(Google Maps) Skien, Norway
Born: March 20, 1828, Skien
Died: May 23, 1906, Oslo
Spouse: Suzannah Ibsen (m.1858–1906)
Parents: Marichen Altenburg, Knud Ibsen
Ibsen was born to a wealthy Norwegian merchant family in 1828 (Henrik Ibsen Biography, n.d.). He wrote in an 1882 letter to critic and scholar Georg Brandes, "my parents were members on both sides of the most respected families in Skien", and that he was closely related to "just about all the patrician families who then dominated the place and its surroundings". Unfortunately, when he was eight his family was thrust into poverty, leading him to leave school and seek employment at the age of fifteen. He gained a position as an apprentice in an apothecary in Grimstad. In 1850, Ibsen moved to present-day Oslo (then Christiania) to study at the University of Christiania. The following year, Ibsen met theater manager Ole Bull, who offered him a job as a writer and manager for the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen. In 1857, Ibsen returned to Christiania, where people claimed he mismanaged the theater and called for his ouster. In 1867, now in quasi-exile, Ibsen left Norway for Italy, where he wrote a tragedy by the name of Brand, which told the story of a clergyman whose religious fanaticism costs him his family and later, his life. In 1867, he wrote Peer Gynt, usually considered one of his best works. A year after that, in 1868, he moved to Germany. Continuing his writing, in 1891 he returned to Norway, but this time revered and considered a literary master. Nine years later, in 1900, Ibsen suffered a series of strokes which left him unable to write. On May 22, 1906, Ibsen's nurse told a vistitor that he was feeling a bit better, to which he responded "Tvertimod!" or, "to the contrary". He died the next day, one May 23, 1906 (Hemmer, n.d.).
Died: May 23, 1906, Oslo
Spouse: Suzannah Ibsen (m.1858–1906)
Parents: Marichen Altenburg, Knud Ibsen
Ibsen was born to a wealthy Norwegian merchant family in 1828 (Henrik Ibsen Biography, n.d.). He wrote in an 1882 letter to critic and scholar Georg Brandes, "my parents were members on both sides of the most respected families in Skien", and that he was closely related to "just about all the patrician families who then dominated the place and its surroundings". Unfortunately, when he was eight his family was thrust into poverty, leading him to leave school and seek employment at the age of fifteen. He gained a position as an apprentice in an apothecary in Grimstad. In 1850, Ibsen moved to present-day Oslo (then Christiania) to study at the University of Christiania. The following year, Ibsen met theater manager Ole Bull, who offered him a job as a writer and manager for the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen. In 1857, Ibsen returned to Christiania, where people claimed he mismanaged the theater and called for his ouster. In 1867, now in quasi-exile, Ibsen left Norway for Italy, where he wrote a tragedy by the name of Brand, which told the story of a clergyman whose religious fanaticism costs him his family and later, his life. In 1867, he wrote Peer Gynt, usually considered one of his best works. A year after that, in 1868, he moved to Germany. Continuing his writing, in 1891 he returned to Norway, but this time revered and considered a literary master. Nine years later, in 1900, Ibsen suffered a series of strokes which left him unable to write. On May 22, 1906, Ibsen's nurse told a vistitor that he was feeling a bit better, to which he responded "Tvertimod!" or, "to the contrary". He died the next day, one May 23, 1906 (Hemmer, n.d.).