Princess Victoria of Sweden was present on October 9, 2023, at the Katarina Church Cemetery in Stockholm for the unveiling of a memorial stone dedicated to Gustav Badin, also known as Adolf Ludvig Gustav Fredrik Albrecht Couschi. The National Organisation of Afro-Swedes, in collaboration with the City’s Cemeteries Department and Katarina Church parish, initiated the installation of this memorial stone.
Following the unveiling ceremony, a reception took place in the parish hall of Katarina Church for the invited guests. The attendees at the reception included the Crown Princess, representatives from the City of Stockholm, members of The National Organisation of Afro-Swedes, and the bishop of Stockholm, Andreas Holmberg.
Couschi, born around 1747 and passing away in 1822, was transported to Sweden as a young slave from the Danish colony of Saint Croix in the West Indies in 1760. He was raised within the confines of the Royal Court and eventually integrated into the Swedish Royal Family.
Couschi was laid to rest in St Catherine’s Cemetery in 1822, and unfortunately, there is no remaining evidence of his grave today. However, two centuries later, he has been recognized with the installation of a memorial stone. In Sweden, on Freedom Day observed on October 9th, people remember the victims of the slave trade and also commemorate the abolition of slavery in the Swedish colony of Saint-Barthélemy on October 9, 1847.
