Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828 in Skien Norway. His parents were Knud and Marichen Altenburg. His family was in the trade of timber and his father was a dist- iller of Schnapps. All of Ibsen's ancestors were sailors and sea captains. Ibsen had four brothers and one sister, the oldest brother died within a month of his birth. All of his other brothers and sister lived to be an adult.
Ibsen was schooled for three years from the age of thirteen to fifteen, his favorite subjects were religion and classical history. Ibsens favorite pastime was to read or to draw. His favorite book was the bible but he was never a member of any church. When Ibsen was fifteen years old, his fathers friend got him a job as an Apothecary's assistant one hundred miles away from where he formerly lived.
He returned home only once again in his life seven years later and kept occaisional contact with his family throughout the rest of his life.
English: Detail of photograph taken in 1900 of Hen...
Silhoutte of Marichen Ibsen (1799-1869) as a young...
Henrik Ibsen på SarkofagIn 1846, Ibsen had a child with his employers housewife. Ibsen payed for his childs schooling until he reached the age of eighteen, but he never had any contact with the child throughout his life. In 1849, Ibsen wrote his first play, Cataline. It was reminiscent of a Shakespearean drama in style and structure, but he denied any direct influence by him.
In 1850, Ibsen moved to Norways capital, Oslo.
Here he went to a university where he met many other writers and intellectuals. He studied to become a doctor but he failed all of the matriculation exams and was unable to fulfill his dreams of being a doctor. One year later, he still couldn't pass any of the exams so when he was offered a job by a classical...