Axel von Fersen the Younger

Hans Axel von Fersen was born on 4 September 1755 into one of Sweden's wealthiest noble families, steeped in French manners and courtly polish. He fought as an aide-de-camp in the American Revolutionary War, but his name stuck to history for what came after: a debated, possibly romantic bond with Marie Antoinette and his role masterminding the royal family's failed flight to Varennes in June 1791. When the Revolution devoured the Bourbons, von Fersen turned diplomat for successive Swedish kings, angling for a restoration that never came. Back home he rose to Marshal of the Realm and Chancellor of Uppsala, but on 20 June 1810 a Stockholm crowd, inflamed by baseless rumours tying him to the crown prince's sudden death, beat him to death in the street. Later investigations cleared him; he was buried with state honours, the violence erased on paper but not from memory.