Sophie Hagman - Background

Background

Information about her background is not entirely confirmed Sophie Hagman was likely the daughter of a gamekeeper and former member of the Södermanland regiment. In 1780, Prince Frederick expressed his intention to do something for the soldier Lars Hagman from Strängnäs, who was active in the Södermanland regiment and previously unknown to him, probably because he was the brother of Sophie Hagman, and it was the custom for soldiers to serve in the same regiment as their fathers

At some point, Hagman was employed to look after the children to Louis Gallodier, dance master of the Royal Swedish Ballet at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. She was then the maid to the lady-in-waiting Baroness Virginia Manderström and later served as the maid to countess Hedvig Catharina Piper. During her employment with Piper, according to courtier count Lars von Engeström, she was "a little girl, and everyone laughed at her because she was in love with Duke Frederik." She ended her employment at Piper and enterred in to a relationship with a young merchant, and brewer, who supported her financially and paid for her education at a sewing school. The Austrian ambassador to Sweden, count Joseph Kaunitz, offered money to both Hagman herself and to her lover to have her for himself, but both her lover and Hagman herself refused because they were mutually in love with each other and because "the brewer was more of a beautiful man than the count." The relationship ended because the man died, and Hagman was forced to end her education to a seamstress. The dates for these events are not clear.

From 1775, Sophie Hagman had a position as a dancer in the Royal Ballet. She never became very known as a ballet dancer and was said to have been more noted for her appearance than her talent; in 1776, she is briefly mentioned as one of the shepherdesses in a ballet. In 1778, Prince Frederick Adolf noticed her during her performance as a page boy, and after having seduced her, he became genuinely in love with her.

Read more about this topic:  Sophie Hagman

Famous quotes containing the word background:

    Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.
    Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)

    I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.
    Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)