thumb | right'''{{Lang|sv|Mamsell}}''' (from the French {{Lang|fr|Mademoiselle}}) was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried middle class women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for women in the burgher and the clergy classes. The word was replaced after the middle of the 19th century by {{Lang|sv|fröken}}, which had previously been a title used only for unmarried noblewomen.
== History ==
An earlier title for unmarried women in Sweden was {{Lang|sv|jungfru}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=jungfru&pz=1|title = Jungfru | SAOB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/svetym/0371.html|title=283 (Svensk etymologisk ordbok)|year=1922}}</ref> Previously, the title {{Lang|sv|fru}} had also been reserved for noblewomen, but it began to also be used for people outside the nobility much earlier than {{Lang|sv|fröken}}. Until 1719, when the Swedish court system was reformed, unmarried noblewomen were called {{Lang|sv|hovjungfrur}} instead of {{Lang|sv|hovfröknar}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Persson |first=Fabian |title=Servants of fortune: the Swedish court between 1598 and 1721 |date=1999 |publisher=Wallin & Dalholm |isbn=9789162833404 |location=Lund |oclc=47258629}}</ref>
In the 18th century, {{Lang|sv|Mamsell}} became common, although unmarried noblewomen were called {{Lang|sv|Fröken}} ('miss'). Similarly, the title {{Lang|sv|Fru}} ('Mrs') was used only for married noblewomen, and married middle-class women were called {{Lang|sv|Madam}} (from French {{Lang|fr|Madame}}). After the parliamentary reform which abolished the Riksdag of the Estates in 1866, the title {{Lang|sv|Fröken}} was allowed for all unmarried women, and the title {{Lang|sv|Mamsell}} – as well as the married equivalent {{Lang|sv|Madam}} – ceased to be used.
The reform was mentioned in the 1866–1867 New Year's show at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm in the satirical song (which rhymes in Swedish):<ref name=":0">Georg Nordensvan: Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från gustav III till våra dagar. andra boken 1842-1918 (1918)</ref>
{{Verse translation|Bort med mamseller, de gamla spöken! Nu varje flicka får heta fröken, om hon ej föredrar att bli fru år 1867.|Away with mamsell'es, the old ghosts! Now every girl can be a Miss, Unless she prefers to be a Mrs In 1867|lang=sv}}
At the Royal Dramatic Theatre, however, the reform was not introduced until after director Edholm was replaced in 1881.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}} * Johan Flodmark: ''Stenborgska skådebanorna'' * Trygve Byström: ''Svenska komedien 1737-1754''
Category:Women's social titles Category:Titles Category:Honorifics Category:Swedish titles Category:Social history of Sweden Category:History of women in Sweden