Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

Eva Mannerheim-Sparre (1870–1957) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

book artist, designer and writer.

Personal life

Eva Mannerheim was born to the

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

branch of the noble

Mannerheim family Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comm ...

, as the fifth child (of seven) of Count

Carl Robert Mannerheim Count Carl Robert Mannerheim (1 February 1835 – 9 October 1914) was a Finnish aristocrat and businessman. He was the son of naturalist Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, and father of Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Biography Mannerheim wrote the sa ...

and Hedvig Charlotta Hélène von Julin, at the family's Louhisaari manor. Her eldest sister was

Sophie Mannerheim Baroness Eva Charlotta Lovisa Sofia (Sophie) Mannerheim (21 December 1863 – 9 January 1928) was a famous nurse known as pioneer of modern nursing in Finland. She was daughter of count Carl Robert Mannerheim and sister of a former Finnish Presid ...

, a pioneer of modern nursing and child welfare in Finland. One of their brothers was

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comma ...

, who later became

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

and the 6th President of Finland. Eva Mannerheim's mother died young, and her father remarried and moved to Paris, and she was sent to Stockholm for her schooling and later artistic and technical education, including drafting,

woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

and leatherwork. She returned to Finland in 1891, and began teaching leatherwork at the

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has t ...

art school. In 1893, Eva Mannerheim married the Swedish artist and designer, Count

Louis Sparre Pehr Louis Sparre af Söfdeborg (3 August 1863 – 26 October 1964) was a Sweden, Swedish painter, designer and draughtsman, most noted for his early work in the Finland, Finnish national romanticism and Jugendstil, jugend styles. He also co ...

, with whom she had two sons. In 1908, the family moved to Sweden; this was on account of their children's education and the political situation in Finland, although some sources suggest that the motivation was Count Sparre's disappointment at not having received public honours in Finland.

Career

Design

In the early part of her career Mannerheim-Sparre worked in the areas of

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and Academic discipline, discipline of composing Plan (drawing), drawings that Visual communication, visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essent ...

and design, including in collaboration with her husband, as ''Konstindustriell ritbyrå Eva & Louis Sparre'' ('Eva & Louise Sparre Industrial Arts Drafting Bureau'). She was also active in textile and furniture design, embroidery and related areas.

Book art

Her design and craft interests led Mannerheim-Sparre to book arts, and she is considered a pioneer of the modern book arts in Finland, and one of the leading figures of her time in the

Nordic region The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Swed ...

. Her interests covered a broad range of matters including

book design Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

and

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...

. She remained active in bookbinding and design into the 1930s, when she had to give it up for health reasons following an accident. She is also known to have planned to establish the provision of technical education in bookbinding, but her plans did not materialise.

Writing

Mannerheim-Sparre wrote several books in her life, mostly

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

and travel journals, and especially towards the end of her career she was predominantly seen as a writer. Her best-known book, however, is a

cookery book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cours ...

titled ''Kokbok för finsmakare och vanliga hungriga'' ( 'Cookbook for Gourmands and the Ordinary Hungry') (Bonnier, Stockholm 1935; Finnish translation: Otava, Helsinki 1936), which has since been re-edited and printed several times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannerheim-Sparre, Eva 1870 births 1957 deaths Book artists 19th-century Finnish women writers 20th-century Finnish women writers Bookbinders Mannerheim family Countesses 19th-century Finnish nobility Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish emigrants to Sweden People from Masku