Maria Sofia De la Gardie, as married Oxenstierna of Croneborg (1627–1694), was a Swedish noble

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 (countess) and entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

. She has been called the first female grand entrepreneur of her country.

Biography

Born to count Jacob De la Gardie

Jacob De la Gardie

Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire....

 and Ebba Brahe

Ebba Brahe

Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe was a lady-in-waiting in the Swedish court, countess, and the mistress of king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden...

, she was the sister to Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...

 and sister-in-law to Princess Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken

Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken

Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken was a cousin and foster-sibling of Queen Christina of Sweden and sister of king Charles X of Sweden...

. She was born and raised in Swedish Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, where her father was governor of the Swedish province. In 1643, she married Gustaf Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, nephew of regent Axel Oxenstierna

Axel Oxenstierna

Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...

, who succeeded her father as governor of Estonia. Both hers and her husband's family were extremely wealthy.

At the death of her husband in 1648, she became the guardian of her underage children and became responsible of the vast estates of the family. At her father's death (1652), she also managed a huge inheritance after him.

In 1649, there was reports of a possible marriage with the heir to the throne, future king Charles X of Sweden: the plans was never realized, but the rumours continued until 1652, possibly staged by Queen Christina of Sweden. Maria Sofia was first lady-in-waiting

Lady-in-waiting

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...

 and hovmastarinna

Hofmeister (office)

In medieval Europe, a Hofmeister was a house tutor, also responsible for the care of his students beyond their education....

 of the queen in 1651-1654.

Maria Sofia resided in Tyresö Palace, from where she managed her estates around the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. She made a study trip to the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, on her brother's suggestion, to study the industrial life. She was interested in cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

breeding and gardening. She managed glove

Glove

A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...

making and a brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

makery. Her most successful enterprise was a textile

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

 industry; by the energy of waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

s on her estate, she manufactured the broadcloth

Broadcloth

Broadcloth is a dense woollen cloth. Modern broadcloth can be composed of cotton, silk, or polyester, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool. The dense weave lends sturdiness to the material....

 and textiles which equipped to the army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

.
She took part in the pacification of Skåne (1658) by acquiring several estates; in 1667, she bought Krapperup Castle

Krapperup Castle

Krapperup Castle is a castle in Höganäs Municipality, Scania, in southern Sweden....

 and managed a colliery for export. She built ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

s, exported timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 and grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

, founded papermills and fabricated linseed oil

Linseed oil

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil, is a clear to yellowish oil obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant . The oil is obtained by cold pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction...

.

During the famous Katarina witch trial

Witch trial

A witch trial is a legal proceeding that is part of a witch-hunt. * Witch trials in Early Modern Europe, 15th–18th centuries** Salzburg witch trials - 1675-1690, Salzburg, Austria** Spa witch trial - 1616, Belgium...

 in Stockholm in 1676, the main witness Lisbeth Carlsdotter, inspired by the Gävle-Boy

Gävle-Boy

The so called Gävle Boy, which was the nickname for Johan Johansson Griis, , was a young Swedish boy remembered for being a witness in witch trials and for bearing the large responsibility for the witch trial of Stockholm in 1676....

, tried to implicate her and her sister-in-law Maria Eufrosyne for witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

, which damaged the credibility of the witness to such a point that eventually led to the end of the whole witch hunt.

At the reduction

Reduction (Sweden)

In the reductions in Sweden, fiefs that had been granted to the Swedish nobility were returned to the Crown.The first reduction under Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1655 restored a quarter of "donations" made after 1632. In the Great Reduction of 1680 under Charles XI of Sweden the Crown...

 of king Charles XI of Sweden

Charles XI of Sweden

Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....

in the 1680s, most of her property was confiscated by the royal family. She died in 1694.