Anna Åkerhielm
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Anna Åkerhjelm, née Anna Agriconia, (born in Nyköping, Sweden sometime before 1647, died in Germany 1693), was a Swedish writer and traveller and the first woman in Sweden to have been ennobled for her own actions (1691).
Biography
Born the child of the priest Mangnus Jonae Agriconius in Nyköping. Her brother Samuel was secretary at the Swedish embassys in London and Paris, and was ennobled in 1679. She was in 1671 employed at the court of Princess Maria Eufrosyne, the aunt of king Charles XI of Sweden, where she became known for her great learning and her interest in science. She became the personal companion of the daughter of Maria Eufrosyne, Charlotta De la Gardie, with whom she had an intimate friendship. Charlotta was married to the military officer Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck in 1682, and followed him on his military services around Europe. The two women followed him to the Republic of Venice and Greece.
In 1686-1689, Königsmarck served in the army of Venice during the Morean War against the Ottoman Empire in Greece, where the two women accompanied him. Contemporary accounts describe how they spent their time in scientific investigations during their stay and at the ruins of Acropolis in Athens. She also describes how they conversed with learned greeks about science and philosophy. After the Parthenon was hit by canons in 1687, Anna found in the ruins an Arabic manuscript, which she donated to the Uppsala university when she returned to Sweden. She also wrote a description of her travels and her stay and discoveries in Greece. After the death of Königsmarck in 1688, she lived with Charlotta De la Gardie in Stade in the Swedish Province of Bremen in Germany. In 1691, she was ennobled by king Charles, the first woman in her country to have been ennobled for her own actions, and her name was changed from Agriconia to Åkerhjelm. She died in Stade in Germany. One source states 1693 as the date of her death, other as the 11 february 1698.
References
See also
Litterature
- Wilhelmina Stålberg, Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor (Notes on Swedish women)
- Svenska Familj-Journalen