Sigrid Niclasen

Sigrid Niclasen (b. Jacobsen) (1854-1927)

Bookseller and author. She wrote the play Jákup á Møn (1903), the first literary work by a woman to be published as a book in the Faroe Islands. Sigrid was an active member of the independence movement and served on the board of Føringafelag, The Faroese Society.

Sigrid in the play Veðurfastur (1889). Source: The National Museum of the Faroe Islands

Sigrid Niclasen was laid to rest from Tórshavn Church, currently Tórshavn Cathedral, on 31^st October 1927. In á Svínaryggi Cemetery she is buried next to Poul Niclasen (1852-1905), who she married in 1891. Sigrid ran the bookstore H.N. Jacobsens Bókhandil, which her father founded in Gongin in 1865. In 1917 Sigrid purchased the old municipal school building from the Faroese Parliament for DKK 25,000. The following year she had the bookstore moved to what remains its location to this day. In November 1927 the paper Tingakrossur wrote in its obituary that Tórshavn had lost a notable woman, who will not soon be forgotten. The paper also wrote:

‘Those who remember her in her youth, when this exceptionally talented, active and cultivated woman poured her life and soul into the newly awakened national movement, – she wrote the play Jákup á Møn and was both then and later the funniest actress we ever had – as well as anyone who has known her over the years, all harbour feelings of gratitude for the wise and good person, who has now left us.’

Sigrid served on the board of The Faroese Association. At the Association’s carnival celebration in 1889 two plays in Faroese were performed. They were Veðurføst by Helena Patursson andGunnar Havreki by Rasmus Effersøe. The following year, the play Jákup á Møn by Sigrid was performed. She based this comedy on a ballad by Nólsoyar Pál adding her own touches. The manuscript was published in 1903, which made it the first literary work by a woman to be published as a book in the Faroe Islands.

Sigrid was active in charity work. And she was also among the initiators of the first childcare option in the Faroe Islands in 1892. Other contributors to this initiative included Jacobina Restorff, O.P. Effersøe and Petra Müller.

Sources:

Løgtingstíðindi 1917. 1917-1918. Tórshavn.

Sigrid Niclasen. 24. apríl 1854 – 28. oktbr. 1927. In: Tingakrossur 2^nd November 1927. Tórshavn.

Sigrid Niclasen (1854-1927): https://snar.fo/rithoevundar/n/niclasen-sigrid

Sigrid Niclasen. Fødd 24. apríl 1854 – Deyð 4. nov.1927. In: Dimmalætting 12^th November, 1927. Tórshavn. Simonsen, Malan. Bylgjurnar leika í trá. 1992. Tórshavn.

Simonsen. Malan. Eitt íkast til eina fjølbroyttari mynd av sjónleikaframførslunum á føstulávint 1889. Um leikrit eftir Súsonnu Helenu Patursson. In: Fróðskaparritum no. 36.-37. 1988-89. 1991. Tórshavn.

Simonsen, Malan. Kvinnurøddir. Kvinnur í almenna kjakinum 1890-1902. 1985. Ringe.