Friderike Elisabeth von Grabow

Friderike Elisabeth von Grabow (née von der Kettenburg; 1705 - 7 July 1779, Güstrow) was a German poet and private tutor.

She was the daughter of Hans Friedrich von der Kettenburg, ambassador to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, where she grew up. She married the court official Friedrich Wilhelm von Grabow in Güstrow (then in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) but was widowed soon afterwards. In 1746 she was summoned by Duchess Elisabeth Albertine to be tutor to her two surviving daughters Christiane and Charlotte - the latter later married George III of the United Kingdom.

In 1753 she was accepted as a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zu Greifswald (Royal German Society of Griefswald). Her works included Freye Betrachtungen über die Psalmen Davids in Versen. (Free Reflections on the Psalms of David in Verse), published in Lübeck and Leipzig in 1752 with a foreword by Sabine Elisabeth Oelgard von Bassewitz. The British travel writer Thomas Nugent came to Gustrow in 1766 and was introduced to von Grabow by her cousin captain von Kettenburg. He described the meeting in Volume 2 of his 1768 book Travels through Germany:

I was very desirous to see this lady, of whom I had heard a great many fine things, particularly of her intellectual accomplishments. ... She has a very handsome house, which has cost her a great deal of money; and she is still employed in beautifying it to her mind. We were introduced into a very elegant room, extremely well furnished, where we had been but a few moments, when the lady appeared, and by her early address and polite reception, immediately shewed [sic] herself a person of superior accomplishments.

Madam de Grabow is turned of sixty, rather low in stature, round faced, black piercing eyes, and a little pitted with the smallpox. Notwithstanding her age, she is hearty and strong, and does not appear to be much above forty: her physiognomy is remarkably lively and sensible; her mien engaging, and in every respect her air bespeaks her the woman of quality. She is chearful [sic] and easy in her conversation, and has a great fluency of speech. Her maiden name is Kettemburg [sic], being the daughter of a nobleman of that name, who was president of a nobleman of that name, who was president of the high court of Gustrow, and minister from his serene highness the duke of Mecklenburg to the court of Vienna. He took his daughter with him to that capital, where she learnt the manners of the court, spent a great part of her youth, and acquired every elegant accomplishment. She speaks Italian and French with ease, is a critic in her own tongue, and has written some pieces in verse, by which she has gained the title of the Sappho of Germany. After her return from Vienna, she was married to M. de Grabow, a very rich man, and assessor of the high court of Gustrow, who died, and left her a handsome fortune. The court of Strelitz pitched upon her as the most proper person to be governornante to the young princesses; an employ in which she acquitted herself with honour. Her greatest pride is the having formed the mind of our gracious queen, whom she mentions always in terms of affection mixed with the profoundest respect. At length, finding herself advanced in years, she thought proper to retire to Gustrow, where she still lives in splendour, beloved and esteemed by all her acquaintance.

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