Jenny Lind: The Swedish Nightingale Who Sang Her Way to Fame and Fortune in America

Jenny Lind was already famous in Europe for a decade before she disembarked in New York in late summer 1850.
Jenny Lind: The Swedish Nightingale Who Sang Her Way to Fame and Fortune in America
Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (1820–1887), circa 1870. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Lawrence W. Reed
Updated:

One hundred and seventy years ago, on Sept. 1, 1850, a 29-year-old Swedish woman arrived in America for her first visit. By the following spring, she earned (in today’s money) more than $10 million. It was easily one of the quickest and biggest fortunes ever made in this country by a foreigner.

Now you may be asking yourself, especially if you are a “progressive,” who did she swindle? How many victims did she exploit along the way? At a time when we did not yet have a federal income tax, did we find another way to punish her for her success? Or did she escape to Sweden before we could vilify her and swipe her money?

Lawrence W. Reed
Lawrence W. Reed
Author
Lawrence Reed is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta and the author of “Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction“ and the best-seller “Was Jesus a Socialist?”
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