Eva Nansen

Eva Helene Nansen (née Sars; 17 December 1858 – 9 December 1907) was a celebrated Norwegian mezzo-soprano singer. She was also a pioneer of women's skiing.

Personal life Born in Christiania (now Oslo), she was a daughter of priest and professor of zoology Michael Sars (1805–1869) and his wife Maren Sars (1811–1898), and sister to biologist Georg Ossian Sars and historian Ernst Sars. Through her mother, she was a niece of poet and critic Johan Sebastian Welhaven and writer Elisabeth Welhaven, a first cousin of architect Hjalmar Welhaven and police chief Kristian Welhaven, and a great-granddaughter of priest Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer.

In September 1889 she married Fridtjof Nansen, the polar explorer and later winner of the Nobel peace prize for his work with refugees, as the League of Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees. They had several children, including Odd Nansen, a notable architect. She died of pneumonia on 9 December 1907 at their home, Polhøgda, in Lysaker. She studied with Désirée Artôt in Berlin in 1886 and 1887. Her Scandinavian concert tours together with pianist Erika Lie Nissen were met with great enthusiasm. She was regarded as one of Norway's most prominent romance singers.

Ski pioneer

Eva Sars (Nansen) was a competent skier. She and Cecilie Thoresen Krog drew attention as the only girls at the Husebyrennet ski jumping event, when they arrived on skis. Later she came to have great influence on gaining the right for women to participate in winter sports on equal terms with men.

Legacy Eva was portrayed by Veslemøy Haslund in the 1968 film Bare et liv – historien om Fridtjof Nansen, and by Lise Fjeldstad in the 1985 serial The Last Place on Earth.