Countess Hedvig Charlotta Hélène Mannerheim (née von Julin; 25 March 1842 – 23 January 1881) was a Finnish noblewoman, known as the first wife of Count Carl Robert Mannerheim. She was also the mother of Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.[1]
Hélène von Julin was born in March 1842 in Fiskars, the eldest daughter of the industrialist Johan Jakob von Julin and his third wife Charlotta Jägerskiöld. She was her father's seventh child, but the first daughter to live to adulthood. Her half-brother was Emil Lindsay von Julin (1835–1898), her sister Elisabet Johanna Emilia Lovén von Julin (1843–1941), her brother Johan Albert Edvard von Julin (1846–1906) and her half-sister Sigrid Lovisa Charlotta Björkenheim von Julin (1849–1924). The siblings included 11 children from four marriages, five of whom lived to adulthood.[2]
In 1880, the husband went bankrupt after squandering his own inheritance and his wife's fortune on gambling and unsuccessful farming experiments, and fled to Paris with his mistress, leaving his wife alone with their children.[3][4] Hélène died of a heart attack in Sällvik on 23 January 1881 at the age of 38, and her brother Albert became the children's guardian.[5] The eldest daughter, 18-year-old Sophie, later took responsibility for the care of her younger siblings.[6]
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