Anna Sofia Sevelin

Who was Anna Sofia Sevelin?

Anna Sofia Sevelin, born Thunberg, was a Swedish opera singer. She was a court singer and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts.

Sevelin was the daughter of Olof Thunberg, who worked as a parish clerk. She was a student at Dramatens elevskola in 1806, and contracted at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in 1813–1837. In 1817, she was elected into the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She also made guest appearances abroad, as in Copenhagen and in Hamburg.

She was considered a great singer, but in lack of dramatic capacity, and it was said that she always sang at the stage as if she performed on a concert. Her voice is described as a deep alt, which changed to a soprano with time. Her voice was destroyed by overexhaustion under the demands from the direction, and from 1833, she was no longer active. She married the ballet dancer Per Erik Sevelin in 1813.