The Baroness: Siri von Essen

Siri von Essen (17 August 1850, Porvoo – 22 April 1912) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish noblewoman and actress.[1] She was married to Baron Carl Gustaf Wrangel between 1872–76, with whom she had a daughter, Sigrid.[2] After their divorce, she married the Swedish dramatist and writer August Strindberg; they were married between 1877–91. Together they had three children: two daughters, Karin Smirnov (born 1880) and Greta (born 1881), and a son, Hans (born 1884 in Lausanne, Switzerland).

Siri had always wanted to become an actress, but it was not considered suitable for a noblewoman, which was what she stated as a reason for the divorce. Between 1877 and 1881, she was an actress at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, and her husband wrote many plays for her. She left the royal stage because of a pregnancy. Siri also tutored actresses who wished to learn acting for the stage, one such student being Martha Hedman.

[From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_von_Essen]


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