An extraordinary leader: Queen Christina

Abstract

Queen Christina (Maria Christina Alexandra) (1626-1689) who marked the 17th century’s history of Sweden emerges as a major political actor. She has reached to this period not only with her activities but also with her appearance, her free soul and her extraordinary character. Owing to be the person who would assume responsibility of a country in the near future, she had grown more like a man than a woman. In another words, her parent’s training style shaped her gender. She never married and avoided living according to customs. Also she preferred to wear men’s clothes. Hereby, she was considered as an hermaphrodite by some people. This study examines the Queen Cristina’s reflection in popular culture. With this purpose, literature review method is used in the study. The research results indicate that there are strong links (with many aspects; literature, art, cinema, cultural events, spor activities etc.) between Queen Christina and popular culture. Queen Christina was the founder of the world’s oldest newspaper called “Post och Inrikes Tidningar” (PoIT-Post and Domestic Times). The newspaper was founded in 1645. She was interested in philosophy, science, religion and art. Queen Christina was in close contact with fine arts in Rome where she spent the last days of her life. Her sophisticated character has being source of inspiration for many works of art (films, paintings, photographies etc.). For example, there is a photo called “Christina of Sweden-The Androgynous Queen” as a part of “The Regal Twelve” series by Alexia Sinclair. Also, a film called “Queen Christina” was directed by Rouben Mamoulian in 1933. Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo starred in the film with John Gilbert. The museum called “Livrustkammaren” (The Royal Armoury) is the oldest museum in Sweden. The museum collection has many pieces about Queen Christina. As a result, it is observed that Queen Christina has significant contribution to popular culture from past to present.