# Elsa Collin

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{{Short description|Swedish theatre critic, poet and actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Elsa Collin
| image       = Collin, Elsa ur AFs Arkiv.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Elsa Collin in a photo from 1907 during her first year as a student in Lund.
| birth_name  = Elsa Sigrid Collin
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=y|1887|10|3}}
| birth_place = [Helsingborg](/source/Helsingborg), Sweden
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|df=y|1941|6|29|1887|10|3}}
| death_place = [Stockholm](/source/Stockholm), Sweden
| other_names = 
| occupation  = 
| known_for   = 
}}

'''Elsa Sigrid Collin''' (3 October 1887 – 29 June 1941) was a Swedish theatre critic, poet and actress.<ref name="utskickvi">{{cite web |first=Fredrik |last=Tersmeden |url=http://utskick.lu.se/b.aspx?vi=12&vid=233&pli=bcf80bbe-3ad0-4ca0-a1f0-cea5c4251470&r=23229&ucrc=13E82EB2 |title=Elsa Collin – den första kvinnan på spexscenen (och mycket mer) |publisher=Lund University |date=June 2014 |accessdate=13 July 2014 |language=Swedish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204225206/http://utskick.lu.se/b.aspx?vi=12&vid=233&pli=bcf80bbe-3ad0-4ca0-a1f0-cea5c4251470&r=23229&ucrc=13E82EB2 |archive-date=4 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Collin was the daughter of Knut Johan August Collin, a doctor in [Helsingborg](/source/Helsingborg), and Sigrid Elvira Eskilsson. Elsa's mother died when she was just two years old; her father later remarried.<ref name="utskickvi"/>

==Career==
After finishing school in 1906, Collin completed her [studentexamen](/source/studentexamen) in [Gothenburg](/source/Gothenburg), and entered [Lund University](/source/Lund_University) in 1907.<ref name="utskickvi" /> Collin became the first woman at any Swedish university to be part of a student [spex show](/source/Spex_(theatre))<ref name="utskickvi"/> playing the part of Susanna, the chambermaid, in a spex called ''Gerda''; the spex also went on a tour to [Malmö](/source/Malm%C3%B6) and [Helsingborg](/source/Helsingborg).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tomtefallan.se/spexhistoria.html |title=Spexhistoria |newspaper=Tomtefällan |accessdate=15 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718102221/http://tomtefallan.se/spexhistoria.html |archivedate=18 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Sandra |last=Stendahl |url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/lund/jubilarer-frossar-i-djingis-khan/ |title=Jubilarer frossar i Djingis Khan |newspaper=Sydsvenskane |date=26 April 2011 |accessdate=13 July 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121419/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/lund/jubilarer-frossar-i-djingis-khan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Collin was also active in the left-wing fraternity ''Den yngre gubben'' and wrote for the student paper with, among others, [Vilhelm Ekelund](/source/Vilhelm_Ekelund), with whom she had a close relationship at the time.<ref name="utskickvi"/>

After completing her bachelor's degree in 1909, Collin moved to Stockholm and entered [Stockholm University](/source/Stockholm_University), but mostly worked, initially as an actress in the theatre ensemble Lilla Teatern as well as Uppsala Teatern.<ref name="ingmarbergman1">{{cite web |first=Helene |last=Dahl |url=http://ingmarbergman.se/medarbetare/ellen-bergman |title=Ellen Bergman |publisher=Ingmarbergman.se |date=24 June 2012 |accessdate=13 July 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714124451/http://ingmarbergman.se/medarbetare/ellen-bergman |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Robinson2008">{{cite book|author=Michael Robinson|title=An International Annotated Bibliography of Strindberg Studies 1870&ndash;2005: Vol. 2, the Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMC5o-iJq-YC&pg=PA1002|year=2008|publisher=MHRA|isbn=978-0-947623-82-1|page=1002}}</ref> Over time she came to work more for newspapers, first as a secretary at the Stockholm weekly ''Figaro'' and then as the Stockholm theatre critic for the Malmö newspaper ''Arbetet''.<ref name="utskickvi"/>

Collin published poetry in the [Social Democratic women](/source/Social_Democratic_Women_in_Sweden)'s magazine ''[Morgonbris](/source/Morgonbris)'', including two overtly political poems, "Det dagas" (Day is dawning) and "Giv ditt namn!" (Give your name!) written in association with the [women's suffrage](/source/women's_suffrage) assemblies of 1912 and 1913. The title of the second refers to a petition effort; the poem became an anthem of the movement in Sweden.<ref name="utskickvi"/>

During her years in Stockholm, Collin became a close friend of writer and theatre leader [Brita von Horn](/source/Brita_von_Horn); the two women shared a residence in [Skagen](/source/Skagen).<ref name="ingmarbergman1"/><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.kkmuseum.dk/kkenglish/kk.htm|title = Kirsten Kjær (1893–1985)|publisher = Kirsten Kjær Museum|accessdate = 14 July 2014|archive-date = 15 July 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140715040225/http://www.kkmuseum.dk/kkenglish/kk.htm|url-status = live}}</ref> Together they created the theatre group the [Dramatist Studio](/source/Dramatist_Studio_of_Sweden) (''Dramatikerstudion'') and wrote a play for the group based on von Horn's book ''Aschebergskan på Wittskövle''.<ref name="utskickvi"/> However, the piece did not receive its first performance until 1944, after Collin's death, when it was also [Ingmar Bergman](/source/Ingmar_Bergman)'s inaugural production at the [Helsingborg City Theatre](/source/Helsingborg_City_Theatre).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJCGNAlqB0gC&pg=PA514 |title=Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide |first=Birgitta |last=Steene  |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9789053564066 |page=415}}</ref>

==Death==
Collin died in 1941. Her funeral took place in Stockholm, but she was buried in the Nya kyrkogården (New Cemetery) in her birthplace Helsingborg.<ref name="utskickvi"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Svensk litteraturtidskrift – Volume 27|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell|year=1964|page=133}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{SKBL}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin, Elsa}}
Category:1887 births
Category:1941 deaths
Category:20th-century Swedish actresses
Category:Swedish stage actresses
Category:Swedish theatre critics
Category:Swedish women theatre critics
Category:Lund University alumni
Category:Stockholm University alumni
Category:Actresses from Helsingborg
Category:20th-century Swedish poets
Category:20th-century Swedish women poets

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elsa Collin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Collin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Collin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.