Profile of the Day: Edvard Grieg

Have you found any Norwegian connections? On this day in 1843, Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway. Widely considered one of the leading Norwegian composers of the Romantic era, Grieg brought the national folk music of Norway to international audiences.

Image: Edvard Grieg / Bergen Public Library, Flickr

Grieg was born on June 15, 1843 to Alexander Greig, a merchant and vice-consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judith Hagerup, a music teacher from a prominent Norwegian family. His maternal grandfather was Edvard Eilersen Hagerup, a Norwegian scholar and politician. The family name Grieg, originally spelled Greig, can trace its origins to Scotland. His great grandfather, Alexander Grieg, had traveled widely after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. He settled in Norway around 1770 and founded the family business in Bergen.

Grieg’s mother first taught him to play the piano at the age of six. He showed a clear talent for music and was sent to study at the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1867, he married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup, a lyric soprano. Grieg spent many years of his life touring Europe and bringing his compositions of Norwegian folk music worldwide. One of the most prominent figures to come from the city of Bergen, it is not surprising to find Grieg celebrated throughout the city, with numerous statues depicting his image and many cultural entities named after him.

Explore Edvard Grieg’s family tree on Geni and share your connection to the Norwegian composer.