Maria Kristina Kiellström (15 June 1744 – 20 January 1798), known as Maja Stina, was a Swedish

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

worker and alleged prostitute, and most famously the fictional demimonde prostitute or Rococo "nymph"

Ulla Winblad Ulla Winblad was a semi-fictional character in many of Carl Michael Bellman's musical works. She is at once an idealised rococo goddess and a tavern prostitute, and a key figure in Bellman's songs of ''Fredman's Epistles''. The character was part ...

in the songs called '' Fredman's Epistles'' by Sweden's troubadour, Carl Michael Bellman, who made her a major character in his work.

Biography

Kiellström was born into a poor family in what was then the poor area of Ladugårdslandet 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 ...

. Her mother died when she was five years old. Her father, Johan Kiellström, was originally in the artillery, but he was forced to resign from the military because of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

, and supported himself as a street sweeper. Her father remarried a woman by the name Catharina Elisabeth Winblad, and Maja Stina occasionally used her stepmother's name Winblad ("vineleaf"). From the age of fourteen, Kiellström supported herself. Her first work was that of a domestic, but in 1763, she is listed as a silk worker. During the 1760s, she became acquainted with the songwriter and performer Carl Michael Bellman, and they are known to have dined and danced with each other. In 1765, she gave birth to a daughter who died after eight days. The father of the child was Colonel Wilhelm Schmidt from the Swedish nobility in Russian service, who promised to marry her but abandoned her and left for Russia. The steps on Skeppsbro etching by Elias Martin detail

The steps on Skeppsbro etching by Elias Martin detail

During these years, she was alleged to have been a prostitute. Historians, however, have found nothing to confirm this allegation. According to August Gynther, there is no record of her ever having worked at a tavern either. She was on one occasion suspected by her landlord for immoral lifestyle but was by others described as an orderly and dutiful worker. It is confirmed that she regularly took communion in church, something she would likely not have been allowed to do had she been a prostitute. Neither was she ever placed in the

Långholmens spinnhus Långholmens rasp- och spinnhus, commonly known as Långholmens spinnhus, was a women's prison in Långholmen, Stockholm, Sweden. The prison was established in 1649 when the Malmgården in Alstavik at Långholmen was erected, and was closed in ...

for prostitution. According to historical records, she was only arrested once, and the reason was not prostitution. In 1767, she was arrested for wearing silk, which was normally banned for commoners and laborers under the

Sumptuary law Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...

s of the time. She was discharged after having proved that she was a silk worker and thereby entitled by law to wear silk despite being a commoner. In 1772, she married Eric Nordström, a childhood friend of Bellman, who was helped by Bellman to a position at the customs in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

. A figure named Nordström appears in Bellman's '' Fredman's epistles''. Bellman himself had a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

job in the customs service. The marriage was unhappy as Nordström treated her badly. She became a widow in 1781, when she moved back to Stockholm, and in 1786, in her middle forties, she married Erik Lindståhl, a man eleven years her junior. She was at this time described as a very well preserved beauty.

As Ulla Winblad

Kiellström inspired Carl Michael Bellman to create his character, the prostitute "Bar-Nymph", demimonde, and courtesan

("Ulla Vine-leaf") who appears in many of the songs in ''Fredman's epistles''. The popular Epistle no. 71 begins:Bellman, 1790. Epistle 71.Swedish Wikisource: Fredmans epistel n:o 71
/ref> :'' Ulla! min Ulla! Säj får jag dig bjuda'' :rödaste smultron i mjölk och vin,...'' :Ulla, my Ulla, say may I thee offer :reddest strawberries in milk and wine... It is said that both Kiellström and her husband felt persecuted by Bellman's portrayal of her, and she was exposed to much humiliation because of his songs involving her alter ego. Indeed, another woman who simply had the Christian name "Ulla" found her Stockholm newspaper advertisement ineffective in the 1790s, as her unhappy suitor replied "How can you expect me to marry you when you have such a name?"Britten Austin, 1967. pp. 84-89

References

Sources

Bellman.net
om Ulla Winblad och Maija-Stina Kiellström * Britten Austin, Paul. ''The Life and Songs of Carl Michael Bellman: Genius of the Swedish Rococo''. Allhem, Malmö American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1967. * Artikel i Dagens Nyheter, 070726. * Matz, Edvard. ''Carl Michael Bellman – Nymfer och friskt kalas''. Historiska Media, Lund, 2004.

Biography

As Ulla Winblad

See also

References

Sources

Further reading