Ulla De Geer

Ulrika "Ulla" Sofia De Geer, née Sprengtporten (20 August 1793 - 22 September 1869 in Stockholm), was a politically influential Swedish countess and salon holder. She was married to the politician count Carl De Geer, over whom she is believed to have exerted influence, and was a central figure in the Stockholm high society between the 1810s and 1850s.

Life

Ulrika Sofia De Geer was born to Baron Johan Vilhelm Sprengtporten and Sophia Lovisa Mörner af Morlanda and the sister of the politician baron Jakob Wilhelm Sprengtporten. She married the politician count Carl De Geer in 1810. The marriage was arranged and she had been forced to abandon Karl Fredrik Reinhold von Essen, with whom she was truly in love. This caused a depression which attracted attention: after the death of von Essen in 1820, she publicly dressed in mourning as if she were a widow. Ulrika Sofia De Geer was a leading member of Stockholm society life and hosted a salon which was a center of political discussions. She was regarded to be a political power holder in contemporary politics. She is considered to have been behind the fact that her spouse as a politician moved closer to the opposition in the parliament of 1840. Carl Gustaf von Brinkman frequented her salon. She retired from social life as a widow in 1861. F. U. Wrangel referred to her as Sweden's last grande dame.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.