Eva Merthen (1723–15 October 1811), known as "''The Duchess of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

''", was a Finnish woman known for her relationship with the General James Keith during the Russian occupation of the Swedish province of Finland during the

Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) The Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 (also known as The War of the Hats) was instigated by the Hats, a Swedish political party that aspired to regain the territories lost to Russia during the Great Northern War, and by French diplomacy, which soug ...

. She is the subject of the novel " Hertiginnan av Finland" (1850) by

Zacharias Topelius Zacharias Topelius (; 14 January 181812 March 1898) was a Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history. He wrote his works exclusively in Swedish, although th ...

Life

Merthen was the daughter of the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Åbo (Turku), Karl Merthen. She made the acquaintance of Keith, who was the leader of the Russian forces who captured Åbo in 1742, at the receptions arranged by the Russian officers and where she made a success as a well-educated, charming beauty. During the occupation, Keith was given authority to manage the occupation as he wished, and Merthen is considered to have influenced his rule and by her influence making the policy toward civilians mild during the Russian occupation.Matti Klinge. "Merthen, Eva (1723 - 1811)". National Biography of Finland. Finnish Literary Society. Retrieved 2010-09-27. Her father died shortly before the peace in 1743, and when Keith left Finland, she followed him. They were never technically married, but she was treated by Keith as well as by society as his official and legal spouse, especially after he joined

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n service. After the death of Keith in 1758, she married in 1760 to the politician Johann David von Reichenbach (1732–1807) in

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merthen, Eva 18th-century Finnish people 1723 births 1811 deaths Finnish prisoners of war People of the Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) 18th-century Finnish women