22.11.1812 – 21.12.1890
Actress, ballet dancer, director, author, Danish
Johanne Luise Heiberg came from humble circumstances. She was endowed with an iron will and an extraordinary presence. Her parents earned their living, among other things, by taking in boarders, including a singer, and renting out a room to a dance school. In this way, Johanne Luise Heiberg received dance lessons and singing lessons.
She was admitted to the Royal Danish Theatre’s Ballet School while also receiving acting tuition, and eventually became a student at the Royal Danish Theatre. Here, Johan Ludvig Heiberg, who was 21 years her senior, saw her and began writing roles for her. When Johanne Louise was 17, his mother, Thomasine Gyllembourg—one of Denmark’s first female authors—offered to take her in, and she was gradually trained in skills and subjects that, given her ordinary background and scant schooling, would otherwise have been beyond her reach. The following year, she married Johan Ludvig Heiberg.
From the age of 14 to 52, Mrs Heiberg, as she was called, played approximately 275 roles. After that, she became the Royal Danish Theatre’s first female director. She was also an avid letter writer, and under a pseudonym she wrote magazine articles about women, theatre, and the church. Her autobiography in four volumes was published after her death. It is regarded as a Danish masterpiece of international stature.
Johanne Luise Heiberg was courageous and hardworking. She became the greatest Danish actress of her time. In 1882, she became the first woman ever to receive the Medal of Merit in Gold.
