Maria Aurora of Königsmarck

Countess Maria Aurora von Königsmarck (sv: Aurora Königsmarck) (28 August 1662 – 16 February 1728) was a Swedish and German noblewoman of Brandenburg extraction and mistress of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

Aurora von Königsmarck was born at Stade, as the second child and eldest daughter of Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck (1634-1673), son of Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, and his wife Countess Maria Christina von Wrangel (1628-1691), daughter of Count Hermann von Wrangel. Her elder brother, Karl Johann, was a Knight of Malta and a famous adventurer; her two younger siblings were the dilettante artist Amalia Wilhelmina -von Lewenhaupt by marriage- and Philip Christoph, who was the lover of the princess Sophia of Celle, wife of the later King George I of Great Britain.

She spent her childhood in the Agathenburg Castle. When her father died on 1673, her mother Maria Christina took the place of head of the family. From 1677, she began to travel with her family and visit the family properties in Sweden and Germany.

In Sweden, she and her sister Amalia were among the most known participants in the amateur theatre of the royal court, which had the patronage of the queen, Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. In the winter of 1683-84, a group of female courtiers performed the Swedish premier of Iphigénie by Racine at court. In the play, Johanna Eleonora De la Gardie acted in the part of Iphigenie, Amalia Königsmarck as Achilles, Aurora Königsmarck as Clitemnestre, Augusta Wrangel as Agamemnon, and Ebba Maria De la Gardie as Eriphile. This is regarded as a significant event as the first play performed by an all female cast in Sweden, as an introduction of French Classicism in Sweden.

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