Ã…got Gjems Selmer, also Ã…got Gjems-Selmer, (27 October 1857 â€" 25
September 1926) was a Norwegian actress, writer, and
lecturer.Gjems-Selmer was born into a wealthy family in Kongsvinger,
Norway. She was the eldest of nine siblings born to Svend Jørgen
Gjems and Johanne Rolfsen. As a 12-year-old, the family relocated to
Kristiania (now Olso). She graduated in 1876 she decided to become an
actor. In 1883, she married physician, Alfred Selmer (1851â€"1919) who
became the first resident district physician in Balsfjord in the
Tromsø region of Norway. After nineteen years, they moved to Ås in
Akershus. They had eight children, five reaching adulthood, including
the singer Tordis Gjems Selmer (1886-1964), actor Alfred Jørgen Gjems
Selmer (1893-1919), and actor-writer Lillemor von Hanno
(1900â€"1984).While working as an actress, Gjems-Selmer performed at
the Christiania Theatre, where in 1883, she played the role of Petra
in the staging of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, attracting
critical acclaim.She wrote a total of ten books, some translated into
several languages including German, Dutch and Hungarian. Some were
based on memories of her own childhood in Kongsvinger. These included
Da mor var liten (When Mother was Little), describing how she became
acquainted with Norwegian cultural celebrities including Jonas Lie,
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Ole Bull, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje and Erik
Werenskiold. Later, when she and her husband lived in Balsfjord for 19
years, her wrote about family life in the far north. One of her works
was published in Germany (with several reprints) as Die
Docktorsfamilie im Hohen Norden (The Doctor's Family in the Far
North).
September 1926) was a Norwegian actress, writer, and
lecturer.Gjems-Selmer was born into a wealthy family in Kongsvinger,
Norway. She was the eldest of nine siblings born to Svend Jørgen
Gjems and Johanne Rolfsen. As a 12-year-old, the family relocated to
Kristiania (now Olso). She graduated in 1876 she decided to become an
actor. In 1883, she married physician, Alfred Selmer (1851â€"1919) who
became the first resident district physician in Balsfjord in the
Tromsø region of Norway. After nineteen years, they moved to Ås in
Akershus. They had eight children, five reaching adulthood, including
the singer Tordis Gjems Selmer (1886-1964), actor Alfred Jørgen Gjems
Selmer (1893-1919), and actor-writer Lillemor von Hanno
(1900â€"1984).While working as an actress, Gjems-Selmer performed at
the Christiania Theatre, where in 1883, she played the role of Petra
in the staging of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, attracting
critical acclaim.She wrote a total of ten books, some translated into
several languages including German, Dutch and Hungarian. Some were
based on memories of her own childhood in Kongsvinger. These included
Da mor var liten (When Mother was Little), describing how she became
acquainted with Norwegian cultural celebrities including Jonas Lie,
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Ole Bull, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje and Erik
Werenskiold. Later, when she and her husband lived in Balsfjord for 19
years, her wrote about family life in the far north. One of her works
was published in Germany (with several reprints) as Die
Docktorsfamilie im Hohen Norden (The Doctor's Family in the Far
North).
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