Sofia of Nassau
| Sophia of Nassau | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Queen consort of Sweden | |
| Tenure | 18 September 1872 – 8 December 1907 |
| Queen consort of Norway | |
| Tenure | 18 September 1872 – 26 October 1905 |
| Born |
9 July 1836 Biebrich Palace
|
| Died | 30 December 1913 (aged 77) |
| Burial | Riddarholmen Church |
| Spouse | Oscar II of Sweden-Norway |
| Issue |
Gustaf V of Sweden Prince Oscar, Duke of Gotlandia Prince Carl, Duke of Westrogothia Prince Eugén, Duke of Nericia |
| House | House of Nassau-Weilburg |
| Father | Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau |
| Mother | Pauline of Württemberg |
| Religion | Lutheranism |
Sophia of Nassau (Sophia Wilhelmine Marianne Henriette, Swedish: Sofia; 9 July 1836 – 30 December 1913) was Queen consort of Sweden and Norway. Sophia was Queen of Sweden for 35 years, longer than any other Swedish queen before her. She was the longest serving queen until 2011 when she was surpassed by Queen Silvia. She is also the latest Queen of Sweden to have held the official title of Dowager Queen of Sweden.
Sophia was the youngest daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, by his second wife Princess Pauline Friederica Marie of Württemberg.
Her father died when she was three, and was succeeded by her half-brother Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Sophia was given what was considered a suitable education for princesses at the time by private tutors. She was trained in fencing, normally reserved for males, to strengthen her back and correct her posture. Sophia socialized with academics and artists, and the court of Nassau was considered more democratic than what was usual at most German courts. She early learned the English language, and felt sympathy for the British parliamentarian system. The language spoken in her childhood home was not German but English. Sophia was given what has been referred to as an upbringing more similar to the middle class Victorian life style, which she preferred rather than a royal one. Her brothers used to refer to her as Unsere demokratische Schwester (our democratic sister). She was described as serious, intelligent and dutiful, and interested in language and history: she was also genuinely religious.
In 1848, she witnessed a rebellion in the Duchy of Nassau, suppressed by her mother and brothers. She spent the winter of 1853-54 with her mother at the court of her maternal aunt in St Petersburg in Russia. Her maternal aunt, Princess Charlotte of Württemberg, was married to Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia. The trip was not made to arrange a marriage with a Russian prince, because her mother did not wish her to convert, which would have been necessary, but rather, to have her study the life in a grand court. During her stay in Russia, she was a student of the pianist Anton Rubinstein. Sophia and her mother were forced to leave Russia at the outbreak of the Crimean war. After the death of her mother in 1856, Sophia lived with her half sister Princess Mary of Wied.
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