Maria Sofia De la Gardie (1627 – 22 August 1694) was a Swedish noble, countess, courtier, banker and industrialist

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. She is most known for her industrial enterprises, and she has been referred to as the first female grand entrepreneur of her country. She served as ''

överhovmästarinna Court Mistress ( da, hofmesterinde; nl, hofmeesteres; german: Hofmeisterin; no, hoffmesterinne; sv, hovmästarinna) or Chief Court Mistress ( da, Overhofmesterinde; ('grand mistress'); ; no, overhoffmesterinne; sv, överhovmästarinna; russia ...

'' to

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden in Queen regnant, her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father ...

Biography

Early life

Maria Sofia De la Gardie was born to count

Jacob De la Gardie Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie ( Reval, 20 June 1583 – Stockholm, 22 August 1652) was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward. He was Privy Councilor from 1613 onward, Governo ...

and Ebba Brahe. She was the sister of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the favorite of Queen Christina, Queen of Sweden and the sister-in-law of Princess Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken, the cousin of the queen. She was born and raised in Swedish

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, where her father was governor of Reval. In 1643, she married baron Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna (1613–1648), nephew of regent

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (; 1583–1654), Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a c ...

(1583–1654) who succeeded her father as governor of

. As was the custom in 17th century Swedish nobility, she kept her own name also after marriage. Both her own family and the family of her spouse was extremely wealthy. During his absence, she managed his estates.

Life at court

After the death of her spouse in 1648, she became the guardian of her two underage daughters and responsible of the vast estates of the family. After the death of her father in 1652, she was given the responsibility of several estates also after him, making her one of the greater landowners in Sweden. Maria Sofia was described as a great beauty, temperamental, forceful and talented, and could speak both French and German fluently. She was close to her brother Magnus Gabriel, the favorite of the monarch, and it was possibly because of him that she was showered with gifts from the monarch. She was given an allowance which helped her sort out her affairs, and her late spouse was posthumously granted the title of count, giving her the title and rank of precedence of countess at court. In 1651, she was appointed head lady-in-waiting, first with the title Court Mistress (''Hovmastarinna'') but soon with the title Chief Court Mistress (''Overhovmastarinna''), the highest office for a female at the royal court, though it was split on several people during the reign of Christina. She often hosted the queen at her residence

Tyresö Palace Tyresö Palace (Swedish: ''Tyresö slott'') is a 17th-century palace in Tyresö, Stockholm County, Sweden, about 25 km south-east of central Stockholm. The construction of the palace began in the 1620s and completed in 1636 by the Lord Hi ...

, were the monarch liked to hunt. In 1649, there was reports of a possible marriage with the heir to the throne, future King

Charles X of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

. The Danish ambassador reported about them in November that year. The plans was never realized, but the rumors continued until 1652. They were possibly staged by

as a way of avoiding the pressure of Christina to marry Charles. In reality, they are not considered to have been serious if they did occur. It is however known that she was proposed to by the Duke of Croy. Maria Sofia had many suitors but preferred to stay unmarried. It is known that she passionately supported her brother when he fell from grace in 1653, but this does not seem to have affected neither his nor her own position. With some exceptions, such as

Ebba Sparre Ebba Larsdotter Sparre (1629 – 19 March 1662) was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and noblewoman. She is known as the intimate friend and possible lover of Queen Christina of Sweden. Life Ebba Sparre was the daughter of statesman and marshal Lars Eri ...

, lady Jane Ruthven and Louise van der Nooth, Christina did not show any interest in her female courtiers, and generally mentions them only to express contempt over their femininity and portray herself as more masculine than them. After the abdication of Christina in 1654, Maria Sofia left court to devote her life to her industrial interests, for which she has become known in history.

Industrial activity

Maria Sofia De la Gardie resided in

, from where she managed her estates around the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. On her brothers suggestion she made a study trip to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, to study the industrial life. She was interested in

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

breeding and gardening. She managed

glove A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless g ...

making and a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

makery. Her most successful enterprise was a

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, different #Fabric, fabric types, etc. At f ...

industry: by the energy of

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s on her estate, she manufactured the

broadcloth Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then he ...

and textiles which equipped to the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. During the 1650s, De la Gardie engaged in banking activity and competed with her competitor, Stockholms Banco, by taking up large loans in the bank and then using the sums by lending it to the customers in her own bank: this was initially very lucrative, but eventually, problems enabled the Stockholms Banco to confiscate and sell her banking security.Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013 Maria Sofia De la Gardie took part in the pacification of

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

by acquiring several estates there after it had been incorporated into Sweden in 1658. In 1667, she bought Krapperup Castle and managed a

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

for export. She built

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s, exported

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

, founded

papermill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

s and fabricated

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

. During the famous Katarina witch trials in 1676, the main witness Lisbeth Carlsdotter, inspired by the Gävle-Boy, tried to implicate her and her sister-in-law Maria Eufrosyne for

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

. This accusation was not taken seriously and never brought to trial, but rather, it damaged the credibility of the witness to such a point which eventually led to the end of the whole witch hunt. At the

Great Reduction In the Great Reduction of 1680, by which the ancient landed nobility lost its power base, the Swedish Crown recaptured lands earlier granted to the nobility. ''Reductions'' ( sv, reduktion) in Sweden and its dominions were the return to the Crown ...

of King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...

in the 1680s, most of her and her brothers property was confiscated by the crown, something which affected her deeply. She died in 1694.

References

Other sources

Marie Sophie De la Gardie, urn:sbl:17384, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av B, BoiiTHius.), hämtad 2013-11-28.
* Ellen Fries: ''Svenska Kvinnor'' Swedish women' utg av S.Björklund, (1920) * Jan Guillou: ''Häxornas försvarare'' Defender of the witches' * Wilhelmina Stålberg:
Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor
' ('Notes on Swedish women']

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Gardie, Maria Sofia 1627 births 1694 deaths 17th-century Swedish businesswomen 17th-century Swedish businesspeople Swedish countesses Mistresses of the Robes (Sweden) Swedish bankers Women bankers Swedish people of French descent People of the Swedish Empire Swedish industrialists Court of Christina, Queen of Sweden Maria Sofia 17th-century women landowners 17th-century Swedish landowners