Giovanna Bassi (1762–1834) was an Italian
ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...
who spent the majority of her career in
Sweden. She was regarded as the prima donna of the Swedish Ballet during the
Gustavian age.
Biography
Giovanna Bassi was born in Italy as the daughter of the Italian ballet dancer Angela Bassi. She was the sister of the
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Charles (Carlo) Bassi (1772–1840), who lived active in Sweden and Finland, where he had been raised since the age of eleven. She was the student of
Jean Dauberval
Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the ...
and debuted on the stage of the opera in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Career in the Royal Swedish Ballet
In 1783, she was employed 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 ...
in the
Royal Swedish Opera in Sweden, where she was to spend the rest of her career.
Bassi is mentioned in the famous
diary
A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
of
Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp
Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp ( sv, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta; 22 March 1759 – 20 June 1818) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIII and II. She was also a famed diarist, memoirist and wit. She is ...
. Her technique was entirely according to the classic Italian style of ballet, and she was capable of performing the hardest movements within this style. At her debut in
Stockholm, the applause was loud enough "to outdo the thunder", and caused what was to be referred to as the "Bassi fever".
Bassi was described as a proud person with a "noble" manner and admired for her beautiful, black hair and her strong, limber body. Among her parts were Cecile in ''La Rosiere de Salency'' by Jean Marcadet with
Antoine Bournonville, Judith Christina Brelin and Jean Marcadet, ''Ninette a la Tour'' by M. Gardel in the 1786–87 season, and Nadine in ''Le Triomphe de la Constance'' by Jean Marcadet with Giuseppe Bartolomei, Antoine Bournonville, Jean Marcadet and Carlo Caspare Simone Uttini (1787–88).
She took pupils and was the mentor of many Swedish dancers, notably
Ulrika Åberg and
Margaretha Christina Åbergsson. She also gave dancing classes for girls from the upper classes. She occasionally performed as an actor at the
French Theatre. Giovanna Bassi became wealthy: initially with a salary of 9.000 livres, she had a fortune of 30.000 riksdaler at the time of her retirement.
Private life
Bassi had a daughter, Johanna Fredrika (1787–1810), presumed to be fathered by
Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila
Adolf Fredrik, Count Munck (Mikkeli, Finland, 28 April 1749 – Massa, Italy, 18 July 1831), was a Swedish and Finnish noble during the Gustavian era. His family name is sometimes inaccurately given as "Munck af Fulkila" because his father usur ...
, with whom she had a relationship at the time. By persistent rumors, the count was said to be the true father of
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, and Bassi's daughter was said to have a strong resemblance to the King, who might have been her half-brother. Bassi's daughter was further said to be the role-model for the character Tintomara in the famous
novel Drottningens juvelsmycke
''The Queen's Tiara'' ( sv, Drottningens juvelsmycke lit. "The Queen's Jewels") is a classic Swedish novel by Carl Jonas Love Almquist.
It is the fourth instalment in the series of novels known as ''Törnrosens bok'' (The Book of the Thorn Rose) ...
by
Carl Jonas Love Almquist
Carl Jonas Love Ludvig Almqvist (28 November 1793 – 26 September 1866) was a Swedish author, romantic poet, romantic critic of political economy, realist, composer and social critic.
Biography
Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was born in Stockho ...
. In that novel, Tintomara is portrayed as the half sibling of King Gustav IV Adolf and the issue of Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila.
When Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila was exiled in 1792, Bassi left the Ballet and followed him to Rome in Italy, where she expected him to formally acknowledge their daughter and marry her. He refused on both accounts, however, which she regarded as a grave insult. When Munck later made her daughter a beneficiary in his will, she refused to accept it and denied the intended inheritance in her daughter's name. During her stay in Italy, she also received large sums of money from the Swedish de facto regent,
Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm
Baron Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm (7 July 1756 in Sjundeå, Nyland, Sweden (now Finland) – 27 December 1813 in Schleswig), was a Swedish statesman. He acted as the de facto regent of Sweden during the minor regency of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden be ...
for whom she acted as a secret agent with the task of providing evidence and conduct inquiries against the exiled
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (russian: Граф Густав-Маврикий Максимович Армфельт, tr, ; 31 March 1757 – 19 August 1814) was a Finnish- Swedish- Russian courtier and diplomat. In Finland, he is considered one ...
. She returned to Sweden in 1794 and reentered the Swedish Ballet, but she was only to remain there for a short while.
Later life
In 1794, Bassi married the German-Swedish merchant Peter Hinrik Schön (1765–1821). She made her last performance in ''De två Savojarderna'' (The Two Savoyards) in June 1794. In her marriage contract, Giovanna Bassi stipulated that her spouse should acknowledge her daughter with Munck as his, and that her great fortune should remain her personal and sole property. Schön was bankrupt at the time of the marriage, but was afterward able to buy Ekholmsnäs Manor at Lidingö. Bassi spent the rest of her life as a business woman, attending to her manor, a brick factory and a
snus
Snus ( , ) is a tobacco product, originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed between the upper lip and gum for extended periods, as a form of sublabial administration. Snus is not fermented. Although used ...
factory. She lived with her mother and her friend, the actress Elise Dubelloi from the French Theatre in Sweden, and she also had additionally three sons with Schön. She converted to Lutheranism in 1815.
References
* Österberg, Carin et al., ''Svenska kvinnor: föregångare, nyskapare''. Lund: Signum 1990. ()
* Kungliga teaterns repertoar 1773-1973 (The Royal Theatre's Repertoire 1773–1973)
* Gunilla Roempke (1994). Gunilla Roempke. ed. Vristens makt – dansös i mätressernas tidevarv (The power of the ankle - dancer in the epoch of the royal mistresses) Stockholm: Stockholm Fischer & company.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassi, Giovanni
1762 births
1834 deaths
Italian ballerinas
Italian stage actresses
18th-century spies
18th-century Italian people
Prima ballerinas
18th-century Italian actresses
18th-century Italian ballet dancers
18th-century Italian women
Gustavian era people
18th-century Swedish businesspeople
Royal Swedish Ballet dancers