Elsa Andersson
Elsa Andersson | |
---|---|
![]() Elsa Andersson | |
Born | (1897-04-27)27 April 1897 Strövelstorp, Sweden |
Died | 22 January 1922(1922-01-22) (aged 24) Alsen, Sweden |
Nationality | Swedish |
Occupation(s) | aviator, stunt parachutist |
Elsa Teresia Andersson (27 April 1897 in Strövelstorp, Sweden – 22 January 1922) was Sweden's first female aviator and stunt parachutist.
She was the daughter of a poor farmer in Strövelstorp in the Scanian countryside. Her mother died when she was aged six. Her elder brother left the family and sought a new life in America.
Always showing determination and ambition, she wanted to become more than just a farmer's wife and so, aged 21, in 1920, she learned to fly, becoming Sweden's first woman pilot. Her diploma was "no. 203". Not content with that, she went to Germany to learn parachute jumping.
In 1922, Andersson was killed on her third jump in Askersund, Sweden. Thousands of spectators were gathering below on the ice of the frozen lake Alsen. She had trouble releasing her parachute, which finally unfolded only at a small distance from the treetops and she crashed violently into the ground.
In 1926, the Swedish Aero Club erected a three-metre-high obelisk as a memorial in the place where she was found dead.
Novel and film
- In 1996 the Swedish novelist Jacques Werup adapted her life in his novel Den ofullbordade himlen ("The Imperfect Sky").
- In 2001 the novel was the basis for the film by Jan Troell Så vit som en snö (a.k.a. As White as a Snow)[1][2] in which Andersson was played by the actress Amanda Ooms. The film was awarded the Swedish critics' prize for best Swedish film of the year. The film depicted her as having affairs with both sexes, but it is not clear how accurately this reflected Andersson's real life.
- Werup, Jacques: Den ofullbordade himlen. [Stockholm] : Bonnier, 1996. - ISBN 91-0-056231-9 (Swedish edition).
Notes
- ^ Så vit som en snö (2001) at IMDb
- ^ Dargis, Manohla. "Movies: About Sa Vit som en Sno". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
Further reading
- Elsa Andersson at Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon
External links
Media related to Elsa Andersson at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
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- Dec 14, 1920 Golders Green O/400 crash
- Aug 23, 1921 R38 Airship crash
- Aug 26, 1921 SNETA Farman Goliath ditching
- Feb 21, 1922 Airship Roma crash
- Mar 31, 1922 Beijing-Han Airlines crash
- Apr 7, 1922 Picardie mid-air collision
- Jan 13, 1923 Aeromarine 75 Columbus incident
- May 14, 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash
- Aug 27, 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash
- Sep 14, 1923 Daimler Airway DH.34 crash
- Dec 21, 1923 Airship Dixmude crash
- Apr 24, 1924 KLM Fokker F.III disappearance
- Dec 24, 1924 Imperial Airways DH.34 crash
- Sep 3, 1925 USS Shenandoah crash
- Jun 25, 1925 KLM Fokker F.III Forêt de Mormal crash
- Aug 18, 1926 Air Union Blériot 155 crash
- Oct 2, 1926 Air Union Blériot 155 crash
- Apr 16, 1927 Fokker C-2 America crash
- Apr 26, 1927 Wooster and Davis's Pathfinder crash
- May 8, 1927 L'Oiseau Blanc disappearance
- Aug 16, 1927 Dole Air Race crashes
- Aug 22, 1927 KLM Fokker F.VIII crash
- Aug 31, 1927 St Raphael disappearance
- Jan 10, 1928 Moncrieff and Hood disappearance
- May 25, 1928 Airship Italia crash
- Jul 13, 1928 Imperial Airways Vulcan crash
- Jul 14, 1928 KLM Fokker F.III Waalhaven crash
- Dec 3, 1928 Dornier J Santos Dumont crash
- Jun 17, 1929 Imperial Airways W.10 crash
- Sep 6, 1929 Imperial Airways Hercules crash
- Nov 6, 1929 Luft Hansa Junkers G 24 crash