Enlarge

Ole Bull

Portrait of Ole Bull in a suit holding a violin, poised to play. View the original source document: WHI 2556

b. Bergen, Noway, 1810
d. Os, Norway, August, 1880

Ole Bull was a concert violinist in Europe before visiting the U.S. In 1843, he made his first concert tour in America. He returned again in 1852, and made his first concert appearance in Wisconsin in 1853.

America

For several years, he gave concerts throughout the U.S., and for a time intended to become a citizen, but did not complete his naturalization. Bull gave his first concert in Madison in 1856. But he experienced health issues returned to Europe in 1857. He remaining there for several years. In 1868, he returned to Wisconsin. He met Sara Thorp, daughter of Eau Claire lumber baron Joseph G. Thorp, in Madison.

Later Life

Bull's first wife, a Parisian girl, had died in 1862. He married Sara Thorp in 1870. The Bulls resided in Madison for several years in a mansion deeded by Thorp to his daughter. During this period, Bull became a popular symbol of Norwegian culture. He gave lavish parties and shows in his home, and during the 1870's became associated with a group of devotees of Scandinavian culture including Rasmus B. Anderson, Aubertine W. Moore and others that greatly influenced the development of the university's Scandinavian department and made Madison a center for the study of Norse culture. Ill in health and worn out from frequent appearances, Bull returned to Norway with his wife in 1880. He retired to his country estate on Lysoen Island, where he died a few months later.

Learn More

Ole Bull

See more images, essays, newspapers and records about Ole Bull.

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

M. B. Smith, Life of Ole BuII (Princeton, 1943); Wis. Mag. Hist., 7; A. W. Moore Papers; WPA MS.