Anna Viktoria Kalldin – L.O. Smith’s second wife

When L.O. Smith’s daughter Mary was widowed by Jean Karadja Pascha, she moved to her father’s house in Ekenäs, Ronneby. At this time, she was the only of Smith’s children who had contact with him. A year later, Mary left the house and would never talk to her father again. The reason was that Smith fell in love with Anna Viktoria Kalldin. Why was Mary so upset about their relationship? Well, the main reason was that Smith’s divorce from her mother was not yet completed. But there was another thing that probably bothered Mary. Anna Viktoria was her 22-year-old maid. Her father was 61 years old.

The couple would stay together until Smith’s death, however. In 1899, they got married at the Swedish-Norwegian consulate in Paris. The marriage ceremony was performed by Nathan Söderblom, who later became archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
By this time in his life, Smith had both lost his wealth and built it up again. The year they got married, he would lose everything again due to the Boer War. Both Smith and Anna Viktoria came from poor backgrounds, and the sudden change was not new to either of them. From 1911, they lived in a small apartment on Malmskillnadsgatan in central Stockholm. In 1913, they moved to Karlskrona.

During Smith’s last few years, Anna Viktoria Kalldin was a nurse as much as she was a wife.

Smith was old and sick. During Smith’s last few years, Anna Viktoria Kalldin was a nurse as much as she was a wife. His final effort was to write his memoirs, which were published on October 11 1913. Rather than writing about the exciting adventures of his life, the book mainly focuses on denigrating his family. He passed away in December the same year.

Footnote:
Jean Karadja Pascha died in 1894.