Laura Gundersen

Laura Gundersen was a Norwegian actress, who was considered the first native-born tragedienne and the first professional native actress and prima donna in her country. She had a strong ambition to be an actor from her early years, and traveled to Christiania (now Oslo) at the age of seventeen to pursue her dream. She was employed at the Christiania Theatre, which was founded by Danes and had Danish as the language of the stage. She was the only Norwegian actor to play there until 1856, when the theatre committed to employ more native actors. She played a long range of tragedies, such as Lady Macbeth, Fru Inger, and Maria Stuart, as well as contemporary dramas by Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. She starred as Svanhild, alongside her husband Sigvard, in the premiere of Ibsen's Love's Comedy in 1873. She played according to the Danish romantic tradition, but also wished to create a Norwegian female playing style. Her employment was the start of a new age in the cultural history of Norway, and towards the end of the 19th century, the Norwegian stage was taken over by Norwegian actors, who often favoured a more realistic way of playing. She died in Oslo and was buried with her husband at Vår Frelsers gravlund. She was regarded as the country's leading stage artist in her time, and her influence was later revived by Johanne Dybwad.