Fredrikke Nielsen | |
|---|---|
 Fredrikke Nielsen's portrait in the 1850s. The Theatre archive, University of Bergen. | |
| Born | Fredrikke Louise Jensen 5 July 1837 |
| Died | July 7, 1912 (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress and preacher |
| Years active | 1853–1880 (actress) |
| Spouse | Harald Nielsen (actor) |
Fredrikke Louise Nielsen (born Fredrikke Louise Jensen July 5, 1837, in Haugesund, died July 7, 1912, in Bergen), was a popular Norwegian actress and a women's pioneer. She played more than 300 roles in her twenty-six-year-long career, and was personally directed by both Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Ibsen chose her to play Signe, one of the lead characters in The Feast at Solhaug (1856), which was his first audience success. In 1880, Nielsen left the stage and joined the Methodist Movement in Bergen. She now became a preacher, first in Scandinavia, and later in the United States. She felt a strong social commitment and used the pulpit for preaching other topics than religion, such as women's and children's rights.
Fredrikke Nielsen was married to actor Harald Nielsen. She is also the great-grandmother of artist Gunnar Haugland.