Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 in Skien, Norway. Forced to leave school at 15 because of his family’s financial difficulties, Ibsen became an apprentice pharmacist and started writing plays. His first plays were not successful, however. Ibsen then worked for several years at local theaters as a director and producer. In 1864, Ibsen left Norway for Italy, not returning for 27 years. It was during this time that Ibsen started seeing his first success as a playwright, with the plays Brand (1865) and Peer Gynt (1867). He went on to write An Enemy of the People, A Doll’s House, and several other influential plays. Today, Ibsen is the most frequently performed playwright in the world after Shakespeare.