The Swedish colonial project in North America – New Sweden – was short-lived, and few women were part of it. But one formidable woman made her mark – Armegot Printz.
Armegot was born in 1626, daughter of Johan Printz. In 1642, he was appointed governor of New Sweden. In February the following year, the family arrived in the new world.
Armegot was described as headstrong and stubborn. In 1645 she married the deputy governor, Johan Papegoja, against her father’s wishes. The couple had four sons together.
When her father returned to Sweden in 1653, Armegot’s husband was appointed new governor, and Armegot became the colony’s first lady, and dominated social life.
However, Papegoja was dismissed the next year, and returned to the home country. Armegot on the other hand decided to stay. The new governor, Johan Rising, was unmarried, so she kept her status as the most prominent lady, at least for a while.
She clashed with the new governor to the extent that he finally had enough and practically put her in house arrest.
Her life would take a new turn in 1656, when the Dutch conquered the colony and the Swedish colonial ambitions in the new world came to an end.
After the Dutch takeover of New Sweden, Armegot’s estate was confiscated. The headstrong woman refused to accept it, and pleaded with the Dutch governor, who let her keep it.
She ruled it until the early 1660s when she sold it. However, she never received the full sales amount. Bitter, she returned to Sweden.
When her father died in 1663, she received a large inheritance. She was briefly reunited with her husband, but refused to share the money with him. Needless to say, the relationship between the spouses was not the best.
In December, she sailed back to America. There she spent a few years running an inn before she returned to Sweden in 1676, where she lived for the rest of her life.
Armegot Printz died in 1695, almost 70 years old.
This formidable woman is one of the very few that left her mark om Sweden’s brief colonial project in America, but today she is all but forgotten.
Sources:
Beijbom, Ulf. Utvandrarkvinnor – Svenska kvinnoöden i Amerika (2006)
Blom, Tomas. Emigrationen till Amerika (2022)