adele – Augusta's Journey

Cecilias’s Album: Adèle Rudenschöld – Princess Eugénie’s Maid of Honor

There is a card in Cecilia’s album that is signed Adèle. On the card is a small watercolor painting of peaches, grapes, and a blue butterfly.

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Adèle Rudenschöld

Of course, I don’t know if the girl who signed the card was in fact Adèle Rudenschöld. All I know is that Adèle Rudenschöld (Louise Rudenschöld’s little sister) attended Edgren’s school and was a friend of Cecilia and our Augusta.

Another girl in Edgren’s school, Ebba Almroth, writes about Edgren’s school in her autobiography and also writes that Miss Rudenschöld, who she met at the Royal Palace, was an old schoolfellow. That would indicate that Adèle Rudenschöld attended Edgren’s school.

“My father took great pleasure in the education of my sister and myself. We attended the school of Frau Edgren, a German lady, wife of an excellent Swedish clergyman.

My school days were very happy. The teachers in Frau Edgren’s school did all in their powers to instill the noble ambition into their pupils of a desire to excel in their studies.” Ebba Almroth’s autobiography

Later in life, Ebba visited Princess Eugénie of Sweden at the Royal Palace. When the princess died in 1889, Ebba wrote an obituary which was published in Sunday at Homes. In the obituary she writes about her surprise in meeting Adèle Rudenschöld in the palace:

“I was interested to find an old schoolfellow, Miss Rudenschöld, living with her in the palace as a maid-of-honor to Her Royal Highness.”

Adèle’s Childhood

Adèle was born at Tyresö castle on October 4, 1832. In 1838, when Adèle was 5 ½ years old, the family moved to Stockholm. Edgren’s school had opened in the fall of 1838. Might that have been a reason for the family to move from their castle in the country to an apartment in town? To make sure their 3 daughters, Louise, Emma, and Adèle got a good, Christian education? Who knows.

Princess Eugénie’s Maid of Honor

Princess Eugénie of Sweden was born to King Oscar I and Queen Josephine in 1830. She had three older brothers.

In 1866, at the age of 34, Adèle became Princess Eugénie’s maid of honor (Hovfröken) and moved into the Royal Palace. Princess Eugénie was two years older than Adèle. Neither was interested in marriage, and both were inspired by the revival movement within the Lutheran church. They also had common hobbies and interests.

Princess Eugénie spent considerable time at Fridhem, her villa built on the island of Gotland in 1861. There are a few photos of her and Adèle at Fridhem. Some pictures even include Adèle’s sister Emma and her father.

The park at Fridhem. Emma and Adéle Rudenschöld, Princess Eugénie, a student, and Count Rudenschöld (Emma and Adéle’s father), 1868

Animal Rights

Adèle and Princess Eugénie were both passionate about animal rights. In 1882, Princess Eugénie, Adèle, and 6 others met at the Royal Palace and created an organization to combat animal cruelty in science (The Nordic Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Four days later, the association held its inaugural meeting at which Dr. Adolf L. Nordwall, bureau chief at the Department of Education, was chosen as the president of the organization. Adolf Nordwall was our Augusta’s husband (and our great-great-grandfather)!

When Adolf met Adèle on that day, did he know that Augusta and Adèle had been schoolmates? Likewise, did Adèle know that Adolf had been married to Augusta? Maybe not.

Adolf held the position of president of the organization until his death in 1892. In 1909, the organization changed its name to Djurens Rätt (The Association of Animal Rights). Today, it is the largest animal rights and animal welfare organization in Sweden.

Art

Adèle and Princess Eugénie were also interested in art. In the 1860s, Princess Eugénie took sculpting lessons from Professor Johan Peter Molin (1814-1873). He is famous for having designed the bronze fountain sculpture in Kungsträdgården (the oldest functioning fountain in Stockholm) and the statue of King Karl XII, also in Kungsträdgården.

The sculptures that Adèle and Princess Eugénie created were made in Parian ware and the motives they chose were very similar. They most likely made them under the tutelage of Professor Molin. Some were then manufactured commercially by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory. Adèle made a sculpture of a dog and a boy:

Dog with Boy. Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Adèle Rudenschöld, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory, 1870-1925. (Nationalmuseum, Sweden)

Princess Eugénie also made a sculpture of a dog and a boy:

Can You Speak? (Kan du tala?). Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Princess Eugénie, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory 1882-1925.

Adèle’s sculpture in Parian ware of a girl carrying a little boy, manufactured by Gustavsberg’s pordelain factory, recently sold at auction for 400 SEK (~$40)!:

Girl with a Boy on her Shoulder. Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Adèle Rudenschöld, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory 1960s.

Later Years

Princess Eugénie died in 1889 at the age of 59. Adèle, who had lived at the Royal Palace since 1866, now moved to an apartment on Artillerigatan 37 in Stockholm. In October of 1923, she moved in with her nephew, Ernst Stenhammar, and his family. She died two months later, on new years eve, at the high age of 91.

What happened to Emma?

I have already written about Adèle’s sister Louise. But what happened to the third sister, Emma? There is no card in Cecilia’s album that is signed by Emma.

Emma was born on August 4, 1830. She contracted tuberculosis (TB) and died in 1868 at the age of 38. The cause of death was TB which had also caused kidney disease.

Emma Augusta Ottilde Rudenschöld (1830-1868)

Cecilia’s Album: Adèlaide Peijron (Sparre) – A Poem about Friendship

Today’s card in Cecilia Koch’s memory album is from Adèlaide Peijron. I wrote about Adèlaide in 2018 when I was searching for the girls who, like Augusta, lived with the Edgren family in Stockholm. Soon after writing the blog post, I received an exciting email from Adèlaide’s great-great-granddaughter (and our new friend), Kathinka Lindhe. At that time, she was working on a book about Adèlaide’s son. More about that down below.

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Tomt och ödsligt blir Ditt lif
Om ej någon vän du äger
Wänskapen Ditt hjerta gif
Den allt annat öfverväger
Den är fast som klippans stål
Och ur denna verld dess mål

My translation (I am no expert on translating poetry and this time I took some liberties to improve on a simple literal translation)

Empty and desolate your life will be,
if not a friend you have.

A heartfelt friendship, do bestow,
a gift that beats all else.

Friendship – solid as a rock,
aim for it in life.

Who was Adèlaide?

Adèle’s full name was Adèlaide Virginia Peijron and she was born on 13 June 1831 in Stockholm. She was almost 13 years old when she wrote the loving poem to Cecilia.

Adèlaide’s mother was Adèlaide Elisabet Schön (1808-1837) and her father was the officer Edouard August Peyron (1796-1858) who had been introduced into the House of Nobility in 1837 with the new name, Peijron. In 1844, when Adèlaide wrote the poem to Cecilia, her father was a chamberlain (kabinettskammarherre) to King Oscar I.

Adèlaide’s mother died when Adèlaide was only 6 years old. It is understandable that the father could not take care of his young daughter. In 1840, at the age of 9, Adèlaide was therefore boarding with the Edgren family. She lived with the Edgrens until they left Stockholm in May of 1844. She then moved in with Mademoiselle Andriette Frigell who continued the school.

“My own Augusta!

Thank you, thank you, for your latest and, for so long, an anticipated letter which was dearly received.

… Yesterday, I was visiting Mademoiselle Frigel and she always asks about you and she sent you her warmest regards. Adèle Peyron also sent you lots of greetings. Erica Degermann and I are invited to Mademoiselle Frigell on a graduation ball on Tuesday…” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, 16 April 1846)

In September 1846, Adèlaide’s father married Anna Maria Bagge (1810-1858) and Adèlaide now had a stepmother. This upcoming wedding was already news in Mademoiselle Frigell’s school in the spring of 1846:

“Speaking of Mademoiselle F., Adèle Peyron’s father will remarry, with Mrs. Bagge, born Groen. So Adèle gets a stepmother. She went with her on May 1^st but Adèle did not look happy at all, said Erica Degerman who saw her. Poor Adèle, I do not think it should be fun to have a new mother when you are that old.” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, 6 May 1846)

In 1853, Adèle married chamberlain Gabriel Gerhard Sigge Sparre af Rossvik and they had 2 sons and 2 daughters. One of the sons was Sixten Sparre.

Sixten Sparre

Sixten Sparre was married and had two children when he became infatuated with a beautiful circus performer, Elvira Madigan. He left his family and convinced Elvira to leave the circus and join him. They traveled to Denmark but had no means to support themselves. Their “honeymoon” ended in tragedy. Their bodies were found in a forest, Elvira presumably shot by Sixten who then shot himself. Their short story was the perfect fodder for the press – a romantic love story of a lieutenant and a beautiful circus artist who in desperation jointly committed suicide. Did they?

For the surviving family, it was something else – the tragedy, the shame, the history that should be forgotten and not mentioned. Kathinka Lindhe writes about this in her book Vacker var han, utav börd: Sixten Sparre, mannen som mördade Elvira Madigan (Transl. He was beautiful, of noble birth: Sixten Sparre, the man who murdered Elvira Madigan), published in 2020. It is a fascinating narrative about Sixten Sparre. She also writes about Adèle’s life after her son’s murder/suicide.

Adèle had had her own marital problems. Her husband had squandered all the wealth she had brought into the marriage. He had been forced to declare bankruptcy, and when he died in 1897, there was no inheritance for Adèle to live on. She had to manage on a pension but fortunately, she later received a substantial inheritance from a relative. She died in Stockholm in 1909, at the age of 78.

Augusta’s friend: Adèle Peyron

The view of Klara Church from the location of Mrs Edgren’s school

Adele with her two daughters in 1860. Adele is 29 years old in the picture.

It’s already August, but what a fun summer Kerstin and I have had. First, we visited places where our great-great-grandmother, Augusta Söderholm, had played as a kid or visited as a young woman, then we spent a night on a steam-engine ship, and then we traveled by both steam ships and steam trains. Back in Stockholm, we visited the city archives to find out more about Augusta’s school in Stockholm. Finally, one of the highlights of the summer was our participation in the activities at Torekällberget, a living-history museum in Södertälje. We now have lots of materials for future blogs!

But right now, I am on a mission to find Augusta’s school friends. I have slowly been going through the correspondence between Augusta and her best friend, Lotten Westman, and trying to put faces to the names mentioned.

“Stockholm 16 April 1846

My own Augusta!

Thank you, thank you, for your latest and, for so long, an anticipated letter which was dearly received.

… Yesterday, I was visiting Mademoiselle Frigel and she always asks about you and she sent you her warmest regards. Adèle Peyron also sent you lots of greetings. Erica Degermann and I are invited to Mademoiselle Frigel on a graduation ball on Tuesday…”

Adèle Peyron

So, who was her friend, Adèle Peyron (or Peijron)?

Census record in 1843. Girls boarding with Mrs Edgren, including Augusta and Adele.

Her full name was Adèlaide Virginia Peyron and she was born 13 June 1831 in Stockholm – so she was 4 years younger than Augusta. Adèle, Augusta, and 3 other girls all boarded with their teacher, Mrs. Edgren, and her husband in their house on Stora Wattugränd 12 in Stockholm. Kerstin and I visited the place where their house once stood, just behind Klara Church. Now it is an office building clad in steel.

Did the girls share beds? It was very common in the 1800s. It was also a way to keep warm in the winter. I assume they would have become very close, just like sisters.

So what happened to Adèle?

She married chamberlain Gabriel Gerhard Sigge Sparre af Rossvik in 1853 and had 2 sons and 2 daughters. But her life was marred by a tragedy.

“Sad Things Still Happen”

That is the title and the first words of a ballad we sang in Sweden as kids. It tells the sad love story of the nobleman and lieutenant, Sixten Sparre (who was already married and had 2 children), and a famous Danish circus artist, Elvira Madigan. Desperately in love, they decided to run away to Denmark. Having no means to support themselves and no one coming to their rescue, they then planned to commit suicide – a romantic last picnic before Sixten shot Elvira and then himself.

Movie poster for the film Elvira Madigan, 1967.

The news were all over the papers in the summer of 1889. And the ballad about Elvira Madigan became famous throughout Sweden through “Skilling Prints” – inexpensive prints of song texts. And 100 years later, the ballad is still famous. Not to mention an award-winning movie made in 1967.

Adèle Peyron and Sixten Sparre

Augusta’s friend, Adèle, was Sixten’s mother.

In 1844, when Adèle and Augusta were both listed as living in the Edgren household, Adèle was only 12 years old. They were learning German and French together, doing their embroideries, and going to children’s balls. She could never have imagined the events that were going to affect her family, nor the shock and sorrow she would experience on receiving the news about her son.

While searching for Adèle, I landed on another blog. The blog is written by Adèle’s great-great-granddaughter, Kathinka Lindhe. She writes about Adèle and about a book she has published. And there is a picture of Adèle! I find it fascinating that we are both blogging about our great-great-grandmothers – who were best friends!