Alethe "Alette" Wilhelmine Georgine Due, née ''Sibbern'' (28 February 1812, in

Værne Kloster Værne Kloster is a manor and former abbey in the municipality of Rygge in Østfold, Norway. Today only ruins of the monastery remain. Originally a Kongsgård estate, King Sverre of Norway established a Knights Hospitaller abbey at Værne around ...

– 7 May 1887, in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

), was a Norwegian singer, composer and courtier. She was an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and served as

Overhoffmesterinne Court Mistress ( da, hofmesterinde; nl, hofmeesteres; german: Hofmeisterin; no, hoffmesterinne; sv, hovmästarinna) or Chief Court Mistress ( da, Overhofmesterinde; ('grand mistress'); ; no, overhoffmesterinne; sv, överhovmästarinna; russia ...

for Queen Sophia of Norway in 1873–1887.

Life

Alette Due was born to councillor of state

Valentin Christian Wilhelm Sibbern Valentin Christian Wilhelm Sibbern (19 September 1779 – 1 January 1853) was a Norwegian government minister and representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly. Biography Valentin Christian Wilhelm Sibbern was born on the Værne Kloster ...

(1779–1853) and Anne Cathrine Stockfleth (1785–1865) and sister of prime minister

Georg Sibbern Georg Christian Sibbern (29 March 1816 – 4 October 1901) was a Norwegian diplomat who served as the prime minister of Norway. Background He was born at Rygge in Østfold. He was the son of Valentin Sibbern (1779–1853) and Anne Cathrine de Sto ...

and

Carl Sibbern Carl Sibbern (11 April 1809 – 17 May 1880) was a Norwegian politician, son of Valentin Christian Wilhelm Sibbern and brother of Alette Due. He was County Governor of ''Smaalenenes Amt'' (today named Østfold) from 1855 to 1880. He was elected ...

. In 1828 she married

Frederik Due Frederik Gottschalck Haxthausen Due (14 April 1796 – 16 October 1873) was a Norwegian military officer and statesman. Born in Trondheim, he entered the military at an early age, and took part in the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814. After the two ...

Musician

Her spouse was Norwegian state secretary stationed in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 1822–1841, and Prime minister of Norway in 1841–1850. When her spouse was stationed in Stockholm, she became a central figure of the Norwegian-Swedish high society in the Swedish capital during the Norwegian-Swedish Union. Due was a non-professional musician of note: she performed as singer and composed songs as well as piano music. She was a member of the musical society '' Harmoniska Sällskapet'' ('Harmonic Society') in Stockholm, and was inducted as Honorary member to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

30 December 1850.

Court career

In 1840, when she was living in Sweden where her spouse was posted in the Swedish capital, she was appointed ''

statsfru A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

'' (

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

) to the Swedish royal court. In 1873, after the succession of king Oscar to the throne, she was appointed principal lady-in-waiting or

for Queen Sophia of Norway, an office she kept until her death. During the Union of Sweden and Norway, the royal family mainly stayed in Sweden, and the Norwegian court staff served during their visits in Norway: during the royal visit, the king and queen took leave of their Swedish entourage at the border and was met by their Norwegian Household, in whose company they remained until the passed the border back to Sweden again. The Norwegian court was however smaller: in 1874 her Swedish equivalent

Elisabet Augusta Piper Elisabet Augusta Piper (1811–1879) was a Swedish court official. She served as ''överhovmästarinna'' (senior lady-in-waiting) to the queen of Sweden, Sophia of Nassau, from 1872 to 1879. She was the daughter of the British admiral and noblema ...

had three ladies-in-waiting under her while Alette Due had but one.
Sveriges och Norges statskalender
', 1874

Works

;Songs for piano * ''L’Exilé (X. Marmier). Romancer med piano componerede og Hendes Kongelige Höghet Prindsesse Eugenie underdanigst tilegnede.'' Songs for piano. Dedicated to Princess Eugénie. * ''Till den frånvarande, i: Förgät mig ej! Album för sång vid piano, vol. 1, Stockholm: Svanberg, 1855.'', Song for Piano, printed in Stockholm 1855 * ''Tre sånger: 1. O, klarögda källa, 2. Dväljen er, suckar svalkande vinden!, 3. Beskows dröm (”Jag drömde du en blomma var”)''. Three Songs. Dedicated to Princess Eugénie. ;Piano music * ''La Rose et le Réséda, deux valses composées pour le pianoforte, valser.''

References

* Nyström, Pia; Kyhlberg-Boström Anna, Elmquist Anne-Marie (1996). Kungl. Musikaliska akademien: matrikel 1771–1995. Kungl. Musikaliska akademiens skriftserie, 0347-5158 ; 84. Stockholm: Musikaliska akad.. Libris 7749167. (inb.) * ”Alette Wilhelmine Georgine Sibbern (1812 - 1887)”. Läst 2 juni 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Due, Alette 1812 births 1887 deaths Mistresses of the Robes (Norway) Norwegian classical composers 19th-century Norwegian women singers Norwegian women classical composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Norwegian composers 19th-century women composers Norwegian ladies-in-waiting