‘I am doing divinely’ - Jenny Lind’s financial legacy

• The soprano Johanna Maria, nicknamed ‘Jenny’, Lind (1820–1887), ‘The Swedish Nightingale’, was met by 25,000 people when she arrived on the paddle steamer Atlantic in New York City on 1 September 1850. Or was it 40,000 people? The sources are not in concord. She was what The Beatles were for the baby boomers in the 1960s. She preceded the next global Swedish music export, ABBA, by more than a century. Jenny Lind was thought of as a very wealthy woman. The main object of this study is to search for and present actual amounts to substantiate this claim. Lind was also seen as a great benefactor. This second claim will be researched, too. For what did she use her fortune? In this study, we follow Lind’s career, with an emphasis on fees, box office shares, ‘service money’, and donations to charity.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Ekonomisk historia (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economic History (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Musikvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Musicology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)