Anna ''Sophia'' Holmstedt (1759–1807) as married Anna Sophia Bleumortier, was a Swedish

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

. Sophia Holmstedt belonged to the pioneers of Swedish ballet at the

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this fi ...

upon its foundation in Bollhuset in 1773. In 1774, at the age of fifteen, she debuted as a translator by a translation of the French comedy play ''Slafhandlaren i Smirna'' (''Le Marchand de Smyrne'') by Nicolas Chamfort in collaboration with Olof Kexel. It was recommended for "an unusually beautiful and easy Swedish". The play was performed on the Stenborg theatre in Stockholm on Monday 24 October 1774 in dedication to king Gustav III of Sweden. Holmstedt was admired by her contemporaries and given the recognition of a "Literary woman". When Olof Kexel founded the order of

Par Bricole Par Bricole is a Swedish Bacchanalian order society for men only, founded in Stockholm on 15 May 1779 in Källaren Kejsarkronan at Drottninggatan 6. The main sources of inspiration were the Freemasons and Carl Michael Bellman's sayings about Ba ...

in 1779, the Sophia-day was chosen as its day in dedication to Sophia Holmstedt. She married the

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in fin ...

Johan Gustaf Bleaumortier.Carl Forsstrand: Sophie Hagman och hennes samtida. Några anteckningar från det gustavianska Stockholm. Andra Upplagan. Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm (1911)

References

* Leif Jonsson:
Silhuetter ur det gustavianska musiklivet
' ilhouettes from the Gustavian Music life * Johan Flodmark: ''Stenborgska skådebanorna'' he Stenborg Stages * Wilhelmina Stålberg:
Anteqningar om svenska kvinnor
' otes on Swedish women 1759 births 1807 deaths Swedish ballerinas 18th-century Swedish ballet dancers Gustavian era people Swedish translators 18th-century translators {{Sweden-translator-stub