Brita Sofia Hesselius
Brita Sofia Hesselius (1801–1866) was a Swedish daguerreotype photographer. She was likely the first professional female photographer of her country. Hesselius was born in Alster parish in the Karlstad Municipality as the daughter of Olof Hesselius, inspector of an estate, and Anna Katarina Roman.
Brita Sofia Hesselius
- Name
- Brita Sofia Hesselius
- Born
- 1801
- Birthplace
- Alster parish in the Karlstad Municipality, Sweden
- Died
- 1866
- Place of death
- Menton, France
- Occupation
- Photographer
- Nationality
- Sweden.
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Brita Sofia Hesselius (1801–1866) was a Swedish daguerreotype photographer. She was likely the first professional female photographer of her country. Hesselius was born in Alster parish in the Karlstad Municipality as the daughter of Olof Hesselius, inspector of an estate, and Anna Katarina Roman.
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Brita Sofia Hesselius (1801–1866) was a photographer, of Swedish nationality. The photographer was born in Alster and died in Menton.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
From 1845 to 1853, she managed a girl school in Karlstad. In parallel, she was active with a daguerreotype photographic studio. She was as such the first professional female photographer of her country: before Hedvig Söderström, the first female photographer who opened a studio in Stockholm in 1857, who was long believed to be the first, and prior to Marie Kinnberg, who performed photography as an assistant and student of Bendixen and Adolph Meyer in Gothenburg in 1851. Hesselius was additionally one of the first professional photographers in Sweden at all, as she was active but a few years after Johan Adolf Sevén opened the first photographic studio in Sweden in 1841, and one of the first female professional photographers in the world, active only shortly after Bertha Beckmann. Hesselius also performed portraits in oil. In 1853, she moved her studio and school to Stockholm. She eventually settled in France, where she died in Menton.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Brita Sofia Hesselius • Born — 1801 • Birthplace — Alster parish in the Karlstad Municipality, Sweden • Died — 1866 • Place of death — Menton, France • Occupation — Photographer • Citizenship — Sweden
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1801
Brita Sofia Hesselius was born in 1801.
1866
Brita Sofia Hesselius died at Menton.
Literature
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Värmland förr och nu 1984. Karlstad framför kameran. Bromander, Carl Wilhelm: Från dagerrotypi till kamerakonst. Ett yrkes åttioårshistoria i Karlstad.
- 2.Karlstad's first professional photographer by Frederick Renard
- 3.Dahlman, Eva: Kvinnliga pionjärer, osynliga i fotohistorien (1993)
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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