Maria Elisabeth "Maja-Lisa" Borgman (1750s – 14 May 1791), was the owner of a famed coffee house in Stockholm during the reign of Gustav III of Sweden and a known local profile in contemporary Gustavian Stockholm.
Life and career Maja-Lisa Borgman founded, owned and managed the coffee house Maja-Lisas on Riddarholmen, which was named after her and became one of the most successful in contemporary Sweden. Coffee houses became common in Stockholm in the 1720s and had a reputation as the center of public intellectual debate, as they normally offered newspaper-reading parlors, where the customers were offered to read the latest newspapers and discuss the latest news.Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013 The profession of coffee house-manager was dominated by women, of which Borgman was a celebrity within her profession in contemporary Sweden and known as "The High Priestess of the Goddess Coffea" in Stockholm.Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013
In the Stockholm register of 1790, Borgman is listed as an unmarried Mamsell of 33 or 38 years old, and the head of a household including a boy at the age of nine, a foster daughter, two maidservants, a servant girl and a married woman as an assistant.Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013 She was taxed for a gold watch and reportedly quite well off. During the 1780s, her coffee house was known as the first center for Chess games in Sweden, were the chess players Daniel Djurberg and Olof Samuel Tempelman were frequent guests.Tfs. Tidskrift för Schack. Nr. 4. Årgång 95. 1989. It is possible that she participated herself, and she is often referred to in older Swedish chess literature.Tfs. Tidskrift för Schack. Nr. 4. Årgång 95. 1989.
A Chalcography in the National Library of Sweden depicts her with the text: "Here you may see a Lais Lais, a courtesan; either Lais of Corinth or Lais of Hyccara. They were often confused by the ancient authors, and have become inextricably linked. in the taste of the time United love games, coffee and tobacco."Tfs. Tidskrift för Schack. Nr. 4. Årgång 95. 1989.
Maja-Lisa Borgman died of a cold. Her coffee house, Maja-Lisas, was managed by its new owners under the same name, sometimes as "Former Maja-Lisas", at least until 1813.
See also Barbara Ekenberg Clas på Hörnet
References
Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013 Gamla Stockholm. Anteckningar ur tryckta och otryckta källor Tfs. Tidskrift för Schack. Nr. 4. Årgång 95. 1989.