Alice Sjoselius

Alice Margaret Sjoselius was born in Duluth, Minnesota, the daughter of Peter Adolph Sjoselius and Sara Bergman Sjoselius. Both of her parents were born in Sweden,[1] and both died in 1935, from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at home.[2]

Sjoselius trained as a singer with Anna Eugénie Schoen-René.[3][4]

Sjoselius was performing concerts in Minnesota by 1909.[5][6] On her way to Germany in 1916, she was on the steamship Ryndam when it struck a mine near the coast of England.[7] She had been studying voice and singing opera in Germany[8] for several years when the United States entered World War I.[1] When she returned to America,[9] she sang at fundraisers for the war effort, including on the steps of the United States Department of the Treasury building in Washington, D. C.[10] Sjoselius made her New York debut at Aeolian Hall in 1918, singing Swedish folksongs as part of her program.[11] Also in 1918, she was engaged to sing a benefit concert for the Swedish Old People's Home in Evanston, Illinois.[12] However, her 1918 tour was suspended on medical advice.[13] She returned to Europe in 1919, to sing at the American Cathedral in Paris, and received a medal for her artistic services.[3]

Sjoselius performed through the 1920s and 1930s,[14][15][16] in the United States and in Europe.[17] Later in life she taught voice in Duluth.[18][19]

Sjoselius died in 1982, aged 94 years.

• Alice Sjoselius at Find a Grave