Hedvig Catharina von Fersen
Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie (1732–1800) was a Swedish noblewoman of the French-descent De la Gardie family. She was the daughter of the General and statesman Magnus Julius De la Gardie and the political salonist Hedvig Catharina Lilje, and sister of scientist Eva Ekeblad.
She married Axel von Fersen the Elder in 1752 and had four children with him:
- Hedvig Eleonora von Fersen, married name Klinckowström (1753–1792)
- Hans Axel von Fersen (1755–1810)
- Sophie von Fersen (1757–1816)
- Fabian Reinhold von Fersen (1762–1818)
Hedvig Catharina was the heir of Löfstad Castle and her marriage thereby strenghtened both the social and economic position of her spouse. In the 1760s, the Crown prince, (the future Gustav III of Sweden), was rumoured to be in love with her [1]. After 1772, when her spouse was made riksråd (councillor of state), she was known at court as riksrådinna, the feminine equivalent, and thereby given a high status. She was described as a close friend of Gustav III during his first years as a monarch: she belonged to the intimate circle of debate-partners with whom he stayed up late at night discussing [2] , and he found her intelligent and cultivated. During his cultural reforms in replacing the French language with Swedish in culture, such as at the opera and theatre, she was one he asked for advice; at the premiere of the Swedish language opera Zaire (1774) she was the only one of the women at court to contradict him regarding his reform by saying that the Swedish word for "darling" was inferior to its French equivalent. [3]
Hedvig had the church of Ljung rebuilt and donated a collection of historical coins to it, which are still preserved there, in 1796. She was burried in the same church. She became a widow in 1794, and died in 1800.