Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie

Who was Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie?

Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie 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

⁕Hans Axel von Fersen

⁕Sophie von Fersen

⁕Fabian Reinhold von Fersen

Hedvig Catharina was the heir of Löfstad Castle, and her marriage thereby strengthened both the social and economic position of her spouse. In the 1760s, the Crown prince, was rumoured to be in love with her. In 1764, Prince Gustav had the habit of walking on the roof terrass on the Royal Palace because he wanted to make contact with her and see her when she showed herself on the roof of the Fersen Palace every day at four; he sent her flowers and asked for meetings in the park of Karlberg Palace. It is not likely that the relation went further than this; Hedvig's attitude to the attention was described as "somewhat amused, somewhat quite dismissive". After 1772, when her spouse was made riksråd, 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, and he found her intelligent and cultivated. During his cultural reforms in replacing the French language with Swedish in culture life, such as at the opera and theatre, she was one he asked for advice; at the première of the Swedish language opera Zaire, 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.