Marie (Maria) Friberg (5 January 1852 - 16 September 1934) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

(

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

) of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

. She is known for her relationship to King

Oscar II of Sweden Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of Oscar I of Sweden, King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen J ...

, with whom she allegedly had two sons.

Biography

Maria Vilhelmina Friberg was born in the St. Nikolai parish of Stockholm, Sweden. In 1883, Friberg aroused attention in the press when she performed as the bride in "Lycko-Pers resa" by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

with the personal

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

of Oscar II in the bridal crown at Nya teatern in Stockholm. The paper ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' reported that Friberg was housed as the king's mistress with their two sons in a house owned by the monarch. In 1891, she married the French noble Pascal d'Aubebard vicomte de Ferussac, who adopted her two sons. In 1893, she married Edvard Leman (1841–1922).

Sources

* Elgklou, Lars (1978). Bernadotte: historien - och historier - om en familj. Stockholm: Askild & Kärnekull. Libris 7589807. * Lagerqvist, Lars O. (1979). Bernadotternas drottningar. Stockholm: Bonnier. Libris 7145664. 1852 births Mistresses of Swedish royalty 1934 deaths 19th-century Swedish women opera singers Operatic contraltos Singers from Stockholm {{opera-singer-stub