2012/02/9
Elisabeth Olin, née Lillström (1740–1828), Stockholm, Sweden
One of Sweden’s first professional singers and the first Swedish-born opera prima donna. She was a court singer by appointment of the king, an actress, and a composer. She was the first woman elected into the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, as member no. 85 in 1782.
She worked at Stora Bollhuset and later at the Royal Theater in Stockholm. She began her career as a concert singer in 1761. Her first composition was included in the collection Gustaviade: Hjältedikt i tolv sånger (Gustaviade: A heroic poem in 12 songs; 1768).
