Brita Sophia De la Gardie

Brita Sophia De la Gardie
Born	Brita Sophia De la Gardie 22 April 1713 Sweden
Died	1797 (age 84) Paris, France
Nationality	Swedish
Known for	Amateur actor and culture personality

Brita Sophia De la Gardie (22 April 1713 – 1797) was a Swedish noble and amateur actress who later converted to Catholicism and became a nun. She was a central member of the cultural life in in her time. She played a part in the history of Swedish theatre. She was the maternal aunt of Count Axel von Fersen the Younger.

Brita Sophia De La Gardie was born to the politician Count Magnus Julius De la Gardie and the political salonist Hedvig Catharina Lillie. She was the sister-in-law to the scientist Eva Ekeblad. During the 1720s and 1730s, amateur theatre was immensely popular in Stockholm and at the royal court. At the time, there were no Swedish language theatre in the capital; only foreign theatre companies performed professionally at the national stage of the Bollhuset Theatre. In 1732, Dom Japhlet d'Arménie by Scarron was performed at the stage of Bollhuset by the noble amateur troupe of Count Carl Gustaf Tessin and Countess Ulla Tessin, who also participated themselves. The most famous one of these amateur troupe was the troupe commonly known as Greve De la Gardies komedianter (The Comedians of Count De la Gardie) (active in 1734–1737), managed by the theatre-interested De la Gardie family.

The De la Gardie amateur theatre performed in the palace Torstensonska huset (later known as now Arvfurstens palats) in the palace Lefebuerska huset and, occasionally, on the stage of Bollhuset Theatre, led by Höpken, between 1734 and 1737. Höpken had returned from Paris in 1734 and organized the troupe to perform more seriously and regularly than the other troupes. Brita Sophia De la Gardie was the lead female actor and star of this troupe. As such, she was well known in the city and a center of its cultural life. Historians have argued whether this troupe performed for the public and can be counted as more than an amateur troupe. According to memoirs, "The whole city" was present at the performances, but the upper-class memoirists may likely have referred to people from their own class. The plays may have been half public, with a symbolic sum paid by the audience, who likely came only from the city's upper-classes.

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