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Elvira Madigan

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Circus Performer

The Resume

    (December 4, 1867-July 20, 1889)
    Born in Flensburg, Germany
    Birth name is Hedvig Antoinette Isabella Eleonore Jensen
    Tight rope walker and trick rider
    Daughter of Norwegian and Danish circus performers
    Went into hiding with her Swedish lover Lieutenant Sixten Sparre on the island of Tasinge in Denmark
    Shot by Sparre in a possible suicide pact after a final picnic dinner
    Subject of Swedish cult film ‘Elvira Madigan’ (1967)

Why she might be annoying:

    Her disappearance caused her family great stress and financially hurt their circus.
    She ran off with Lieutenant Sixten Sparre even though he was married with two children.
    When their money ran out, they evidently decided they had no choice but to kill themselves.
    Her story became a tabloid sensation.
    She was spoofed by Catherine O’Hara in an SCTV sketch called ‘Elvira Mad Again.’

Why she might not be annoying:

    She and Sparre became mythologized as the Scandinavian Romeo and Juliet.
    She was the star attraction of her family’s circus.
    She may have run away to escape her grueling work at the circus, where she’d been performing since age five.
    She and Sparre were said to look ‘perfectly calm’ when their bodies were discovered.
    Brides often leave their bouquets on her grave as she never had a chance to marry herself.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 58 Votes: 65.52% Annoying