Sophie Piper
- For the Halloweentown character, see Sophie Piper (Halloweentown).
Eva Sophie Piper (30 March 1757 - 2 February 1816, Löfstad Slott), née Sophie von Fersen, was a Swedish noblewoman. She was the daughter of Axel von Fersen the Elder and the sister of Axel von Fersen the Younger.
Life
Known as one of the beauties of the court of Gustav III of Sweden, Sophie was proposed to by duke Frederik Adolf, the king's youngest brother and third in line to the throne. The Prince had earlier proposed to her cousin, Ulrika von Fersen, but was declined. Her father forbade the marriage, since he had no wish to bind his family to the royal family. According to the historian and gossip-specialist Crusenstolpe, Sophie also disliked Frederik Adolf, whose mental faculties were restricted. In 1777 she married chamberlain Adolf Ludwig Piper, whose family (like hers) had its origins in northern Germany.
In 1786 Sophie became hovmästarinna to the duchess and later queen Hedwig von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, known in Sweden as Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta. She was the duchess's closest friend and a long historically-interesting correspondence between them (mistakenly known as a "Diary") survives. Sophie was also the closest confidante of her brother Axel, known in the German-speaking world as a favourite and possible lover of Marie Antoinette - for reasons of caution the letters between Axel and Sophie make numerous references to that relationship, but out of caution Marie is never referred to by name but always as "She" or "Josephine" (he Swedish historian Alma Söderhjelm has demonstrated that these are aliases for Marie Antoinette). Like her brother Axel, Sophie fell under false and unfounded suspicion of involvement in crown prince Karl August's death in 1810. He was killed in the street on 20 June 1810 by an angry mob, but she managed to escape and lived out her final years at Löfstad Slott near Norrköping.
Sources
- Biography in the Nordisk familjebok for 1876 to 1904
- Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon