Carolina Brunström (1 January 1803 - 25 January 1855) was a Swedish ballerina. She was considered one of the leading members of the

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Gustav III of Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian ...

in the 1810s and 1820s. She became a student of the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1812, and a premier dancer (ballerina) from 1820 to 1830. Brunström was described as a star member of the royal ballet during her career. Among her roles were Fanny in ''Den ädelmodige Fürsten'' by Giovanni Battista Ambrosiani, in the ballet to the opera ''Jessonda'' by Spohr, and as one of The Three Graces in the pantomime ballet ''Kärleken och gracerna'' ('Love and the Graces') alongside Gustafva Calsenius and Charlotta Alm, with

Sophie Daguin Sophie Marguerite Daguin (26 March 1801 – 13 March 1881) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer. She spent her career in Sweden, where she became a star ballerina and ballet mistress of the Royal Swedish Ballet, and the principal of th ...

as Venus, Charlotte Lindmark as Amor, Per Erik Wallqvist as Apollo and Charles Holm as the shepherd. Privately, Carolina Brunström had a long-term relationship and several children with Gustaf Hans von Fersen (1802-1839), the son and heir of

Fabian von Fersen (1762–1818) Count Fabian Reinhold von Fersen (7 October 1762, Stockholm – 10 March 1818, Stockholm) was a Swedish count, politician, officer and courtier. He was the son of Axel von Fersen the Elder and Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie and the brother of ...

, which is stated as the reason why she chose to retire in 1830 in the midst of great success onstage. Von Fersen, then the perhaps richest heir in Sweden, bought her a house and secured the financial future for her and her children and promised to marry her if she gave birth to a son, but when they had exclusively daughters, his mother convinced him to marry a noblewoman instead: he died officially childless. The chronicler and theater historian

Nils Personne Lieutenant General Nils Birger Valdemar Personne (29 June 1918 – 26 August 2013) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Personne's senior commands includes Vice Chief of the Air Staff (1961–1966), commander of the 4th Air Group (1966), chief of s ...

said of her: :"She was one of the acknowledged favorites of the public and much celebrated for her beauty as well as for her significant artistic ability, but in the middle of her triumphs, she chose to abandon the stage to devote her days to raise the children she had with the rich and elegant count Hans von F., owner of

Ljung Ljung and Annelund () is a locality situated in Herrljunga Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,215 inhabitants in 2020. The locality was formed by Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( ; SCB, ) is the Swedish government ...

och

Steninge Steninge is a locality situated in Halmstad Municipality, Halland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to th ...

. She died at the age of fifty two in Stockholm in very good circumstances."Nils Personne,
Svenska teatern : några anteckningar 5. Under Karl Johanstiden : 1827-1832
'

References

* Fredrik August Dahlgren,
Förteckning öfver svenska skådespel uppförda på Stockholms theatrar 1737-1863 och Kongl. Theatrarnes personal 1773-1863. Med flera anteckningar.
' sid 520

* Nils Personne,
Svenska teatern : några anteckningar 5. Under Karl Johanstiden : 1827-1832
' 1803 births 1855 deaths 19th-century Swedish ballet dancers Royal Swedish Ballet dancers {{Sweden-bio-stub