Eugenie of Sweden

Eugénie of Sweden, painting by Friedrich Dürck , 1849

Princess Eugénie of Sweden , actually Charlotta Eugénie Augusta Amalia Albertina of Sweden and Norway (born April 24, 1830 in Stockholm ; † April 23, 1889 there ), from the Bernadotte family , was a Swedish philanthropist and art lover, she was active as a composer , Painter , sculptor and writer.

Life

Eugénie was born as the fourth child of King Oskar I and Josephine von Leuchtenberg in Stockholm Palace . The only daughter of the royal couple was named after their grandfather Eugène . The adult princess remembers her childhood: She never had a girl of the same age as a playmate. She did not know a toy doll. She always played boys' games with her brothers. Eugénie fondly remembers the stays at the royal summer residence at Schloss Tullgarn together with her three years older favorite brother Prince Gustav , the second born of her three brothers. Your two tutors - the lady-in-waiting Karen Anker and the court chaplain Dr. JG Lundberg - wanted to raise the princess with all her assertiveness to be a docile lady.

Eugenie of Sweden, portrayed by Nils Blommér in 1846

In 1843 Eugénie and his parents visited the grandmother Auguste in Bavaria . A year later, the 14-year-old fell ill. The princess was probably infected by a tutor who was suffering from tuberculosis . In 1846 Eugénie traveled to Prussia with Karl , the firstborn of her brothers . A suitable husband was to be found for the princess. In fact, the pretty young girl received offers from Napoleon III. as well as from Danish and German princes. All marriage projects failed - probably also because Eugénie did not want to get married.

Gustav died in 1852 while the royal family was staying in Christiania . The princess, emotionally marked by the painful loss of her beloved brother, developed pneumonia from which she did not recover properly for her entire life. In 1860 the doctor Magnus Huss recommended the Gotland climate to her as a cure. From then on, Eugénie spent the summers in Fridhem near Visby .

After her brother's death, the princess was more religious than before. The daughter of a Protestant and a Catholic favored ecumenism . She was impressed by the teachings of Thomas von Kempen and the revival movement of Carl Rosenius . Eugénie opened her house to Lord Radstock .

An inheritance in 1876 after the death of her mother gave the princess a considerable fortune. Living undemanding, she spent her money on charities . When this got out of hand, her brother Oskar ordered a halt. Eugénie relented and considered family members in a will. The princess died after a long illness and was buried in the Riddarholmskyrkan .

Act

Artistic

Princess Éugenie's sculpture Kan-du-inte-tala , made in the 1880s

Eugénie composed piano pieces and songs. She was friends with the Swedish composer Lotten Edholm (1839–1930).

The princess studied painting and did watercolors. Her talent was certified, but her training in this field was hindered at court. The mother forbade her daughter to paint nudes .

As a student of Molin , Eugénie worked as a sculptor . Their models were used to make porcelain statues . In 1873 she became an honorary member of the Kungliga Konsthögskolan Stockholm .

In terms of writing, she emerged in 1864 with the demolition "Swedish Princesses" and translated a work by Magnus Friedrich Roos from German.

Humanitarian

In 1866 she founded an orphanage for boys on Gotland and in 1869 for girls. With the proceeds from the sale of her grandmother Désirée Clary's diamonds , she opened a palliative care ward on Gotland in 1869 . Between 1875 and 1888 Eugénie carried out other humanitarian aid projects on Gotland .

Carl David af Wirsén (1842–1912) paid tribute to the princess' charity in a poem.

literature

• Bengt Hildebrand: Eugénie (C. Eugénie AAA) . In: Svenskt biografiskt lexikon Volume 14, Stockholm 1953, p. 662ff. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Eugénie of Sweden  - collection of images, videos and audio files