Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll ( Wrangel; 27 March 1770 – 4 June 1835) was a Swedish countess, poet and salon holder. She hosted a literary salon in
Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
from 1812 to 1835 and has been described as the center of the salon in Uppsala during the
Romantic era
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
. She is known as the patron of
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (19 January 1790 in Åsbo, Östergötland – 21 July 1855) was a Swedish romantic poet, and a member of the Swedish Academy.
Life
He was the son of a country parson, born in the province of Ostergotland on 19 Janu ...
, who greatly admired her, and as one of the earliest supporters of the ''
Fosforisterna'', a group of romantic poets in Uppsala.
Life
D'Albedyhll was born in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, the daughter of
''riksråd'' count Anders Reinhold Wrangel and Eleonora Mariana Barnekow. In 1795, she married baron Gustaf d'Albedyhll and moved to
Nyköping
Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.
Including Arnö, the locality on the ...
. Her marriage was described as happy. Already during her early years, she was known to be intelligent, educated and a talented intellectual, and she was also described as a beauty.
In 1812, d'Albedyhll and her spouse moved to Uppsala. In Uppsala, she founded a
literary salon
A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...
and became a center of the cultural life in the city, rivaling
Malla Silfverstolpe
Magdalena Sofia "Malla" Silfverstolpe (''née'' Montgomery; 8 February 1782 – 17 January 1861) was a Sweden, Swedish writer and Salon (gathering), salon hostess. Her house in Uppsala was a meeting place for many prominent writers, composers ...
. Originally a believer of academic sense, she became the patron of the circle of Romantic poets known as ''
Fosforisterna'', which is described as the breakthrough of the Romantic style in the contemporary high society.
She was the benefactor of
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (19 January 1790 in Åsbo, Östergötland – 21 July 1855) was a Swedish romantic poet, and a member of the Swedish Academy.
Life
He was the son of a country parson, born in the province of Ostergotland on 19 Janu ...
, who was also her personal admirer and describes her:
:"She is about forty, strongly built, with a proud composure, a majestic profile, who resembles that of Queen
Louisa Ulrika
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia (; ; 24 July 1720 - 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden from 1751 to 1771. She was married to king Adolf Frederick and she was queen mother during the reign of king Gustav III.
Background
Louisa Ulrika was born in Berli ...
; big, dark and shining eyes and black hair, which falls in many curls from her forehead. The larger part of the day she spends on reading or painting; when she is resting, she normally walks around in her cabinet with her
zither
Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body.
Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...
hanging from her shoulder, and when her fingers travels across the strings, she truly looks like a song goddess...Among other things, she can perform almost ever part and mimic all people; in particular, she impersonates
Gustav III
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...
excellently. The women in this city greatly fear her much and complains about her satirical tongue, though she does in fact judge them much more lightly than they her."
[Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll (f. Wrangel), urn:sbl:17211, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av O. WlESELGREN.), hämtad 2014-01-02]
Works
In 1789, d'Albedyhll wrote the poem ''Jacobinen'' in dedication to
Anna Maria Lenngren
Anna Maria Lenngren (; 18 June 1754 – 8 March 1817) was one of the most famous poets in Swedish history. Her father and brother were also poets.
One of her best-known poems is ''Några ord till min kära dotter, ifall jag hade någon'' ("Advi ...
. In 1807, she is known to have completed the novel ''Ludvig von Mansfeldt'', though it was not published.
From 1810 onward, d'Albedyhll had her poems published in publications such as the ''Lunds Veckoblad'', ''Journal för Litteraturen och Theatern'' and ''Poetiska kalender''. Her most known poem was the ''Gefion, skaldedikt i fyra sånger'', a poem inspired by the
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, which was published in 1814. She wrote under the name "Ch. Wr."
See also
*
Henrik Otto Albedyll
References
Sources
Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll (f. Wrangel), urn:sbl:17211, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av O. WlESELGREN.), hämtad 2014-01-02.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:dAlbedyhll, Eleonora Charlotta
1770 births
1835 deaths
19th-century Swedish women writers
Swedish salon-holders
Swedish socialites
Swedish countesses
Swedish women poets
18th-century Swedish poets
19th-century Swedish poets
18th-century Swedish women writers
Nobility from Stockholm
Writers from Stockholm