Today’s Google Doodle is a tribute to Swedish aristocrat and scientist Eva Ekeblad (1724-86) on the anniversary 293rd birthday.
Countess Ekeblad is known for her scientific breakthrough of extracting starch from potatoes to make way for vodka distillation – a cause for celebration for all of us!
Here are five things you need to know about this incredible woman.
Ekeblad came from Aristocracy
Hailing from noble origins, Eva married Count Claes Claesson Ekeblad, a Councillor of the Realm. She was just 16. The pair had one son and six daughters over the course of 31-years and split their time between Lindholmen Castle, Västergötland Mariedal Castle. Both estates were wedding gifts to Eva from her father. Umm….swaaaag!
Her sister-in-law, Catherine Charlotte De La Gardie also shared a gift for scientice research. She invented a smallpox vaccine and intervened to stop Sweden’s last witch trial in Dalarna in 1758.