Tilla Valstad

Who was Tilla Valstad?

Mathilde Georgine "Tilla" Valstad was a Norwegian teacher, novelist and journalist. She was born in Tønsberg as the daughter of ship owner Johan Henrik Christiansen and Mathilde Georgine Hvistendahl, and was married to painter and teacher Otto Valstad in 1893. Their home in Hvalstad was a cultural centre, and has later been made into a museum, a part of Asker Museum. She was a teacher Vaterland in Kristiania from 1898 to 1920, and was the first woman in Kristiania who worked as a teacher after being married. Her literary debut was Et år i Vaterland from 1925. Her main literary work is the trilogy Teodora, Teodora kommer hjem and Men størst av alt er kjærlighet, published between 1933 and 1941.