Eva Ekeblad née de la Gardie, (1724 - 1786), was a Swedish agronomist, salon lady and countes
Eva Ekeblad née de la Gardie, (1724 - 1786), was a Swedish agronomist, salon lady and countess. She was the first woman to enter Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Eva was daughter to statesman Magnus Julius de la Gardie, and married Claes Claesson Ekeblad in 1740. She was the aunt of Axel von Fersen the younger, and belonged to one of the most powerful families in Sweden of her time.She often led salons and arranged concerts at their estate, Ekeblad Palace. In the absence of her husband, she supervised their estate, bailiffs and country-assemblys. She was also interested in science, and in 1740, she wrote to Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien to say that she had found a way to make alcohol and flour out of potatoes. Eva used the potato flour as a substitute for the toxic white powder the aristocrats painted their faces with, but for the common people, who suffered a great famine, the new uses for potatoes improved their eating habits a lot. For her discoveries, she was elected as the first woman into Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien in 1748, but never attended their meetings. (x) -- source link
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