Euphrosyne Löf

Who was Euphrosyne Löf?

Euphrosyne Löf was a Swedish ballet dancer and stage actress, best known for her affair with Prince Frederick Adolf of Sweden from 1795 to 1800, after his relationship with Sophie Hagman - Euphrosyne acted as his hostess at Tullgarn.

She was the daughter of Johan Gottfrid Löf, taffeltäckare at the royal court, and Catharina Charlotta Stålhammar, and the sister of the actress Fredrique Löwen. Like her seven sisters, she was early known as a part of the Stockholm demi-monde of high class prostitutes

Euphrosyne made a successful stage debut on the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1791, and she also took part in ballets at the Opera. She was among the first Swedish actresses known by name to have performed in breeches role; in 1794, she and Inga Åberg did the two male leading parts of August and Theodor in the play De begge kammarpagerna by Kexel. For comparison, the first confirmed time a Swedish male actor played a female part was Kjell Waltman as Mother Bobi in 1781, though the all-male student troupe of 1686–1691 must have performed female parts as well. She appeared in Gustav III's plays, in Iphigenie by Gluck, as Märta Banér and as Ebba Brahe in Gustav Adolf och Ebba Brahe by Gustav III.