Eva Merthen was the lover and de facto wife of the Russians' commander-in-chief, James Keith, and she became famous as the main character in Z. Topelius' novel 'The Duchess of Finland' (Hertiginnan af Finland).
Background
Eva Merthen was born in Turku in 1723, one of eight children of the merchant Carl Merthen. Her paternal grandfather and his father were merchants in Turku, the last-mentioned apparently coming from Lübeck. Eva Merthen was dark-haired and of a stately beauty - she had especially beautiful eyes. All of the sources telling of Eva Merthen, including those published during her lifetime, state that she had children by Keith, but it has not been possible to identify them.
Connections
She was in relationship with the General James Keith during the Russian occupation of the Swedish province of Finland during the Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743).