Death of Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen died on 23 May 1906 in Christiania, aged 78. A Norwegian playwright and theatre director, Ibsen is often called the father of modern drama. His early verse plays Brand and Peer Gynt were followed by realistic works examining the hypocrisy and constraints of middle-class society, including A Doll's House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck and Hedda Gabler. A Doll's House, in which a wife leaves her husband and children, caused a sensation and became a symbol in debates about women's rights. He lived abroad in Italy and Germany for nearly three decades before returning to Norway. His plays remain among the most frequently staged in the world.

Open on the timeline