Christoph Delphicus zu Dohna

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Graf und Burggraf Christoph Delphicus zu Dohna zu Carwinden, in Swedish greve Christoffer Delphicus Dohna (1628-1668) was a military and diplomat, and an immigrant in Sweden.

Born in Delft, Netherlands, count Christopher descended from a noble family with Silesian origin and with close family ties with the calvinist Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, the Stadtholder of the Netherlands. His father had been one of helpers of Frederick V, Elector Palatine to obtain the throne of Bohemia, a major reason for Thirty Years War. Young count Christopher Dohna was a maternal nephew of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, the stadtholder Orange's wife. Amalia's son William II, Prince of Orange, Christopher's two-years-older cousin and childhood companion, became in 1647 stadtholder of the Netherlands lordship.

In 1652, count Christopher came to Sweden where he was favoured by Queen Christina of Sweden. He became the Colonel of the Royal Guard in 1653 and Major General in 1654. He took part in the Northern Wars (1655-1660) and in the war on Bremen (1665-1666). He was appointed Field Marshal in 1666. He was in the Swedish delegation in The Hague in 1667 and took part in the peace negotiations between England and the Netherlands in Breda. In 1668, he negotiated the Triple Alliance between these countries and Sweden, and it was during this mission when he died in London.

In 1658 count Christopher married countess Anna Oxenstierna (1620-90), a distant relative of the royal family of Sweden. Anna is a notable in her own right because she was to be a gateway ancestor through whom ancestry in highest nobility of medieval and early modern Sweden, as well as of late medieval Norwegian nobility, passes to, for example, the current monarch of Norway and the current monarch of Sweden, as well as to plenty of other non-Swedes.

Christopher received membership of nobility in Sweden and his son's line remained in Sweden (see issue).

[edit] Source

• The article Dohna, Christoff Delphicus zu in Nationalencyklopedin (1991).