Måns Zelmerlöw
Birth Name: Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw
Place of Birth: Lund, Scania, Sweden
Date of Birth: 13 June, 1986
Ethnicity: Swedish, one quarter Danish, as well as 1/16th or 1/32 Scandinavian Traveller/Romani
Måns Zelmerlöw is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, television presenter, model, and actor. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. He participated in Idol 2005 and Let’s Dance, and hosted Allsång på Skansen, all Swedish shows.
He is the son of Birgitta Sahlén (Birgitta Sigrid Maria Sahlén), a professor, and Sven-Olof Zelmerlöw, a surgeon. His mother is from Jönköping. Måns is married to English actress Ciara Janson, with whom he has two children.
Måns’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to his third great-grandfather, Bengt Svensson (24 April 1828 – 18 October 1869, Markaryd, Kronoberg).
Måns’s paternal grandfather was Börje Jonas Henning Zelmerlöw (the son of Albert Johan Zelmerlöf and Märta Linnéa Åström). Börje was born in Jönköping, Sofia fs, Jönköping County. Albert was the son of Jonas Bengtsson and Selma Zelmerlöf/Löf. Selma was the daughter of Jöns Petter Löf and Anna Greta Karlsdotter/Carlsdotter, and was of Romani descent on at least her mother’s side; her father may also have been Romani. Måns’s great-great-great-grandmother Anna was born in Nyland, Finland, and was from the Scandinavian Traveller community, a subgroup of Romanis descended from Romanis that came to Scandinavia in the 1500s, from the continent. Måns’s great-grandmother Märta was the daughter of Henning Fridolf Åström and Gerda Skog.
Måns’s paternal grandmother was Kirsten Ester Maria Malé (the daughter of Einar Erik Carolus Malé and Esther Bertha Margrethe Hansen). Kirsten was a Danish emigrant, from Copenhagen. Einar was the son of Carolus Isaksen Malé and Laura Jensine Eriksen. Esther was the daughter of Jens Vilhelm Hansen and Frederikke Carla Christine Christensen.
Måns’s maternal grandfather was Sven Folke Arne Sahlén (the son of Karl Vilgott Sahlén and Ester Alfrida Persdotter, also known as Ester Alfrida Persson). Sven was born in Kyrkefalla, Västergötland. Karl was the son of Gustaf Sahlén and Anna Greta Larsdotter. Ester was the daughter of Pehr Johan Petersson, also known as Johan Per Pettersson, and of Christina Mathilda Jonasdotter, also known as Kristina Matilda Jonsdotter.
Måns’s maternal grandmother was Gunborg Anna Maria Liv (the daughter of Oscar Filip Lif, also known as Oskar Filip Liv, and of Sigfrid Kristina Fredriksson). Gunborg was born in Forserum, Jönköpings län, Sweden. Oscar was the son of Viktor Lif and Jenny Augusta Danielsson. Sigfrid was the daughter of Johannes Fredriksson and Axia Maria Lilja.
Måns’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his third great-grandmother, Kristina Johannesdotter Wärn.
Sources: Genealogy of Måns Zelmerlöw – https://www.geni.com
Måns’s paternal great-great-great-grandfather, Anna Greta Karlsdotter/Carlsdotter, on the 1880 Swedish Folkräkningar/Census – https://sok.riksarkivet.se
Information about Måns’s Romani paternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, Karl Fredriksson – https://blogg.slaktingar.se
Måns’s paternal grandmother, Kirsten Ester Maria Malé, on the 1925 Danish census – https://www.familysearch.org
Baptismal record of Måns’s paternal great-grandfather, Einar Erik Carolus Malé – https://www.familysearch.org
Baptismal record of Måns’s paternal great-grandmother, Esther Bertha Margrethe Hansen – https://www.familysearch.org
Baptismal record of Måns’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Jens Vilhelm Hansen – https://www.familysearch.org
Baptismal record of Måns’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Frederikke Carla Christine Christensen – https://www.familysearch.org
Måns’ paternal great-great-grandmother Selma Löf was the daughter of Jöns Petter Löf and Anna Greta Karlsdotter/Carlsdotter. Anna was born in Nyland, Finland, and was from the Scandinavian Traveller community (a subgroup of Romanis that descends from Romanis that came to Scandinavia in the 1500s from the continent).
Here is a census record where Anna is noted as a “tattare” (a now derogatory word used for the travellers, or resandefolket, in Sweden).
https://sok.riksarkivet.se/fritext?Sokord=J%c3%b6ns+Petter+L%c3%b6f&EndastDigitaliserat=true&AvanceradSok=True&PageSize=20&page=1&postid=Folk_117520238&tab=post#tab
More about Anna’s father Karl Fredriksson, a rag-a-bone man and “vallackare” (someone who castrates horses) who travelled all over Scandinavia, can be read here:
https://blogg.slaktingar.se/10-saker-du-inte-visste-om-mans-zelmerlows-slakt/
Interestingly, her husband Jöns isn’t noted as a “tattare” on any census I’ve seen, but there are a few reasons to suspect he could also have been a traveller/Romani (apart from marrying one), mainly:
*He was a knacker (rackare or nattman in Swedish), one of the most common professions of Swedish travellers, who generally held low-status professions.
*On his geni.com page, it says that one of his relatives said about him that he was “big and dark” (common stereotypes about travellers) and was called Svarte Petter (Black Peter). Svarte Petter was the nickname of a notorious semi-folklorish Swedish Romani criminal, but the name could’ve possibly been used for other people as well (though it’s so associated with the traveller community that I’m not sure it would’ve been applied to someone not of that background).
What’s certain at least is that Måns is 1/32 Romani.