Eva Nansen
Opera singer
title: "Eva Nansen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1858-births", "1907-deaths", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-norway", "19th-century-norwegian-women-opera-singers", "musicians-from-oslo"] description: "Opera singer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Nansen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Opera singer ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Eva Nansen |
| birth_name | Eva Helene Sars |
| image | FridtjofNansenEvaSars1889.jpg |
| caption | Fridtjof Nansen and Eva Nansen in fall 1889 |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| birth_place | Christiania (now Oslo), Norway |
| death_place | Lysaker, Norway |
| spouse | |
| children | 5, including Odd Nansen |
| parents | Michael Sars |
| Maren Welhaven | |
| relatives | Ernst Sars (brother) |
| Georg Ossian Sars (brother) | |
| Johan Sebastian Welhaven (uncle) | |
| Elisabeth Welhaven (aunt) | |
| Hjalmar Welhaven (cousin) | |
| Kristian Welhaven (cousin) | |
| Axel Revold (son-in-law) | |
| Marit Greve (granddaughter) | |
| Eigil Nansen (grandson) | |
| Dagny Hald (granddaughter) | |
| occupation | Opera singer |
| :: |
| name = Eva Nansen | birth_name = Eva Helene Sars | image = FridtjofNansenEvaSars1889.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Fridtjof Nansen and Eva Nansen in fall 1889 | birth_date = | death_date = | birth_place = Christiania (now Oslo), Norway | death_place = Lysaker, Norway | education = | spouse = | children = 5, including Odd Nansen | parents = Michael Sars Maren Welhaven | relatives = Ernst Sars (brother) Georg Ossian Sars (brother) Johan Sebastian Welhaven (uncle) Elisabeth Welhaven (aunt) Hjalmar Welhaven (cousin) Kristian Welhaven (cousin) Axel Revold (son-in-law) Marit Greve (granddaughter) Eigil Nansen (grandson) Dagny Hald (granddaughter) | occupation = Opera singer | awards = | signature =
Eva Helene Nansen (née Sars; 17 December 1858 – 9 December 1907) was a celebrated Norwegian mezzo-soprano singer. She was also a pioneer of women's skiing.
Personal life
Born in Christiania (now Oslo), she was a daughter of priest and professor of zoology Michael Sars (1805–1869) and his wife Maren Sars (1811–1898), and sister to biologist Georg Ossian Sars and historian Ernst Sars. Through her mother, she was a niece of poet and critic Johan Sebastian Welhaven and writer Elisabeth Welhaven, a first cousin of architect Hjalmar Welhaven and police chief Kristian Welhaven, and a great-granddaughter of priest Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer.
In September 1889 she married Fridtjof Nansen, the polar explorer and later winner of the Nobel peace prize for his work with refugees, as the League of Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees. They had several children, including Odd Nansen, a notable architect. She died of pneumonia on 9 December 1907 at their home, Polhøgda, in Lysaker.
Career
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Eva_Nansen_1897.jpg" caption="Eva Nansen in 1897"] ::
Eva Sars studied singing for five years with her sister Mally and her brother-in-law, baritone singer and composer Thorvald Lammers. She studied with Désirée Artôt in Berlin in 1886 and 1887. Her Scandinavian concert tours together with pianist Erika Lie Nissen were met with great enthusiasm. She was regarded as one of Norway's most prominent romance singers. Her last public concert was in December 1899, when she performed the newly composed Haugtussa song cycle, based by Edvard Grieg on Arne Garborg's poems.
She also contributed musically to gatherings in her mother's home, which before 1898 was a meeting place for liberals and intellectuals; it has been called "Christiania's first salon".
Ski pioneer
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/EvaNansenskiing.jpg" caption="Eva Nansen, 1889"] ::
Eva Sars (Nansen) was a competent skier. She and Cecilie Thoresen Krog drew attention as the only girls at the Husebyrennet ski jumping event, when they arrived on skis. Later she came to have great influence on gaining the right for women to participate in winter sports on equal terms with men.
Legacy
Eva was portrayed by Veslemøy Haslund in the 1968 film Bare et liv – historien om Fridtjof Nansen, and by Lise Fjeldstad in the 1985 serial The Last Place on Earth.
References
References
- Haavet, Inger Elisabeth. "Eva Nansen". Kunnskapsforlaget.
- Aasen, Elisabeth. "Elisabeth Welhaven". Kunnskapsforlaget.
- Bjørkek, Ole Petter. "Hjalmar Welhaven". Kunnskapsforlaget.
- (2001). "On the history of the international protection of refugees". Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge.
- (1949). "Nansen, Eva". Dreyer.
- Arntzen, Jon Gunnar. "Maren Sars". Kunnskapsforlaget.
- Boye, Else. "Maren Sars". Kunnskapsforlaget.
- Moksnes, Aslaug. "Cecilie Thoresen Krog". Kunnskapsforlaget.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::