Portrait of Martha Ostenso

Birthday profile

Martha Ostenso

Martha Ostenso, Canadian screenwriter and novelist (died 1963)

Born
September 17, 1900
Died
November 24, 1963
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1900

About Martha Ostenso

Martha Ostenso (17 September 1900 – 24 November 1963) was a Norwegian American novelist and screenwriter who is also an important figure in Canadian literary history. == Early life and education == Martha Ostenso was born in Haukeland (now part of Bergen), in Hordaland County, Norway. Her parents were Sigurd and Olina (née Tungeland) Ostenso. She emigrated with her family to the province of Manitoba, Canada, where she first settled in Brandon before moving to Winnipeg. Ostenso taught in a rural school and attended the University of Manitoba for approximately one year; she never graduated. While studying at the University of Manitoba, she was a student of Douglas Durkin, a professor in the English Department. Shortly thereafter Durkin left his wife and children and moved to New York City; Ostenso joined him there. They lived together in New York, where she studied at Columbia University. == Career == Martha Ostenso worked as a social worker in New York; she and Durkin were active in the literary circles of the time. Ostenso's best-known novel, Wild Geese, was published in 1925.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Martha Ostenso was born

Martha Ostenso was born in 1900. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1900

  • Best-selling book"To Have and to Hold" – Mary Johnston

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Davis Cup tennis tournament
  • Top headlineGalveston Hurricane kills 8,000+ — deadliest US disaster
  • Technology milestoneFirst zeppelin flight
  • World population~1.6B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam McKinley
  • U.S. population76.2M

1900 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Martha Ostenso's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19002026
Average income$438$67,500
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population76.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.