Fredrika Limnell
Catharina Fredrika Limnell
Private life
Fredrika Forssberg was born on July 14, 1816 in
Fredrika Limnell was raised in a literary home and had the ability to cultivate her interests in literature and music. Prior to her first marriage, she was engaged to the poet Anders Grafström, but the engagement was terminated on her initiative.
In 1842 in Stockholm, she married her cousin, Per Erik Svedbom (1811–1857), headmaster at Nya Elementar in Stockholm and editor of Aftonbladet with whom she had two sons, William (1843) and Erik (1855). After the death of her first husband, she was married in 1858 to Carl Abraham Limnell (1823–1882), a lieutenant in the Civil Engineering Corps and later office manager at the Swedish Royal Railway Board.
Together with Carl Limnell, she built Villa Lyran, an exclusive summer villa in the district Bredäng, a suburb in south-west Stockholm. The couple also maintained a winter residence at Gustav Horns palats at Fredsgatan 2 in Stockholm, today the site of the Medelhavsmuseet.
Cultural activity
Already during her first marriage, she moved to the capital of Stockholm, where she became the center of a literary salon. She was a benefactor of artists: she partially financed
Social work
The family business, Wifstavarfs AB, Svedbom-Hellzen provided good yields, and enabled Limnell to generously help the women's movement as well as several other social projects, engage in social work, charity and act as the patron of artists. She was interested in the improvement of the political, economical and juridical position of women already in the 1850s, and many women's organizations held their meetings in her salon. In 1853, she co-founded the Stockholms fruntimmersförening för barnavård (Stockholm women's fund for child care) with Fredrika Bremer. Through her position as a member of the board of directors of several charity organisations, she initiated the foundations of several scholarships for female students.
Limnell was a central figure in the Stockholm high society and involved in various organisations within charity, feminism and social issues. Through her activity she played an important role in contemporary Swedish cultural life and social development.
Limnell was the secretary of the Stockholms fruntimmersförening för barnavård (Stockholm women's fund for child care) in 1853; a member of the board of directors of the
With her good connections, she was a help to many activists within these fields. She participated in the social projects of Fredrika Bremer and Princess
As a person, Limnell is described as compassionate, an accomplished hostess with a lively and curious intellect. She was a close friend of Fredrika Bremer, who developed and nourished her great interest in social work.
She died on 12 September 1897 in Stockholm.
See also
References
- ^ Lyran (Från Fyrisån till Capris klippor)
- ^ "Historia om Wifstavarf (Projekt Wifstavarfs Historia)". Archived from the original on 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- Österberg, Carin et al., Svenska kvinnor: föregångare, nyskapare (Swedish women: Predecessors, pioneers) Lund: Signum 1990. ISBN 91-87896-03-6
- C Fredrika Limnell, urn:sbl:10390, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Sven Erik Täckmark), hämtad 2015-03-15.