Henrik Ibsen

Born in 1828 in Skien, Norway, Henrik Ibsen began his theatrical career after working as an apprentice pharmacist. Following years at Bergen’s Det norske Theater and his marriage to Suzannah Thoresen, he spent 27 years in self-imposed exile in Italy and Germany. There, Ibsen revolutionized modern drama by pioneering social realism in iconic plays like The Pillars of Society, A Doll’s House, and Ghosts. Openly criticizing bourgeois society and highlighting women’s issues, he returned to Norway in 1891 to craft more introspective, symbolic works such as Hedda Gabler, solidifying his enduring global literary legacy prior to his death in 1906.