John Lind (1877 – 1940), born with the surname Lindström, was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 female impersonator, singer and dancer. Although mostly forgotten today, he toured the world in the early 20th century and was one of Sweden's most internationally famed artists.

Early years

John Lindström was born in the small town Vissefjärda

Vissefjärda

Vissefjärda is a locality situated in Emmaboda Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 673 inhabitants in 2005....

, but grew up in Karlskrona

Karlskrona

Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the...

. The local director of theatre, Hildur Carlsberg, helped the young Lind get a place at the Alhambra variety theatre in Stockholm. At the age of 18 he performed as a ballet dancer dressed as a woman, and was a celebrated member receiving a lot of attention from an audience who in large consisted of sailors from the nearby Skeppsholmen

Skeppsholmen

Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. Positioned strategically at the Baltic Sea entrance to Stockholm, it has traditionally been the location of several military buildings...

 flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

.

International career

John Lindström changed his surname to Lind, most likely as a reference to the celebrated Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind

Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...

. Together with a female partner he toured under the name of Fanny och John Lind (Fanny and John Lind). After touring Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 he moved on to Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 and started up the group Les Petits Filous together with Paul Schneider-Duncker, where Lind danced and sang soprano. He was discovered by an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 impresario

Impresario

An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...

 during a 1902 Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 performance, and in 1904 he became a star at the London Pavilion

London Pavilion

The London Pavilion is a building located on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street on the north-east side of, and facing, Piccadilly Circus in London...

 under the name of ?Lind?.

Lind toured the world with ?Lind? for over 20 years. He performed at stages in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. But he only performed once in Sweden, where female impersonators were not quite well considered at the time. During a tour in the US 1907 he met his future wife, the Russian Stepha Klein (1882 - 1973), who would also become his impresario and dresser.

?Lind? was a large and costly show in which John Lind performed acts based on subjects like "the five senses", playe the roles of historical female figures or made pastiche

Pastiche

A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...

s on contemporary dancers like Pavlova

Pavlova

- Persons :* Anna Pavlova * Anna Pavlova * Alla Pavlova * Karolina Pavlova * Anelia Pavlova * The feminine form of Pavlov, a common Russian and Bulgarian family name- Other :...

, Cléo de Mérode

Cléo de Mérode

Cléo de Mérode was a French dancer of the Belle Époque.-Biography:Cléopatra Diane de Mérode was born in Paris, France, the daughter of the Austrian landscape painter, Karl von Merode . The painter belonged to a famous Belgian noble family 'de Mérode'...

, La Belle Otero

La Belle Otero

Carolina “La Belle” Otero was a Spanish born dancer, actress and courtesan.-Early years:Born Agustina Otero Iglesias in Valga, Pontevedra, Galicia , her family was impoverished, and as a child she moved to Santiago de Compostela working as a maid...

 and Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...

.

John Lind moved back to Karlskrona in 1923. Touring had worn him out, and while he remained a member of artists societies like the American The White Rats

The White Rats

The White Rats was an organization formed by vaudeville performers, led by George Fuller Golden, as a labor union to support the rights of performers...

, he would not return to the stage again.

Death and legacy

John Lind died 1940 after a time of sickness and relative obscurity. He suffered from diabetes and had lost most of his money in the Kreuger Crash. His wife Stepha Lind stayed in Karlskrona until she died in 1973, when all of Lind's show materials, posters and outfits were donated to Blekinge Läns

Blekinge

' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea.The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm"....

 Museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

. The museum displayed an exhibit over Lind that same year.

In Sweden today John Lind is still a largely unknown figure. He remains a larger figure on the international scene, spoken of as a precursor by Danny La Rue

Danny La Rue

Danny La Rue, OBE was an Irish-born British entertainer known for his singing and drag impersonations.-Early life:...

and a part in the history of female impersonation and drag queens.