
author
1828–1906
A towering figure of modern theater, this Norwegian playwright reshaped drama with works that brought everyday moral conflict and social pressure onto the stage. His plays, including A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and Hedda Gabler, still feel startlingly alive.

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen

by Henrik Ibsen
Born in Skien, Norway, on March 20, 1828, he became one of the most important playwrights of the 19th century and is often described as a founder of modern drama. Early in his career he worked in the theater in Bergen and Kristiania, building practical stage experience before gaining wider recognition.
His writing changed over time, moving from verse and historical subjects to the realistic social dramas that made his name across Europe. In plays such as Brand, Peer Gynt, A Doll’s House, An Enemy of the People, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, and Hedda Gabler, he explored family tensions, public hypocrisy, personal freedom, and the cost of telling the truth.
He spent many years living abroad, especially in Italy and Germany, before returning to Norway late in life. By the time of his death in Kristiania on May 23, 1906, he had become an internationally celebrated writer whose influence on theater, literature, and the modern idea of dramatic realism was enormous.