Euphrosina Heldina von Dieffenau

Swedish lady-in-waiting
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroSwedish lady-in-waiting
PlacesSweden
wasLady-in-waiting
Gender
Female
Birth1550
Death1636 (aged 86 years)
The details

Biography

Euphrosina Heldina von Dieffenau, or Heldin (died 1636), was a Swedish courtier.

Originally from Germany, she became courtier to Catherine of Sweden, Countess Palatine of Kleeburg in 1590. After the death of Catherine's mother, Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern, she became the lady-in-waiting, nurse and in practice foster mother of Catherine. She were the confidant of Catherine and the two of them had a close relationship for the rest of their life, sometimes by letters, which are preserved. She married a German officer in Swedish service, but remained in the service of Catherine also after Catherine's marriage as her Mistress of the Robes. She was described as educated and seen as a role model for female nobles in this regard, could speak Latin and was given the task to practice reading and prayer with the heir to the throne, Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, and converse with foreign ambassadors.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 28 Aug 2020. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.