Helena Munktell

Who was Helena Munktell?

Helena Mathilda Munktell was a Swedish composer. She was born in Grycksbo, Dalarna, into a wealthy family, the youngest of nine children of Henry and Augusta Munktell. Her mother lived separately in Stockholm and after her father died, the family moved there.

Munktell studied music at the Stockholm Conservatory with Conrad Nordqvist, Johan Lindegren, Ludwig Norman and Joseph Dente, and then in Vienna with Julius Epstein. She studied both piano and voice, and continued her education in composition in Paris with Benjamin Godard and Vincent d'Indy. Her debut as a composer took place in Sweden in 1885. She suffered from eye disease and died at the age of 57 in Stockholm.