Carl Gustaf af Leopold
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Carl Gustaf af Leopold (born April 3, 1756 in Stockholm ; † November 9, 1829 there ) was a Swedish poet and writer.
He was born under the name Carl Gustaf Leopoldt. His father was a customs officer. He grew up in Norrköping . From 1773 he studied in Uppsala . After completing his studies, he initially worked as a private tutor. Leopold first came out with poems of homage typical of the time and made a name for himself in 1778 with a poem on the birth of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf. Leopold was a representative of the Swedish Enlightenment and wrote poems in the style of French classicism . In Thomas Thorild , Leopold fought the Sturm und Drang he hated .
Carl Gustaf af Leopold was a close collaborator of King Gustav III. especially after Johan Henrik Kellgren's retirement . In 1786 Leopold was a founding member of the Swedish Academy founded by the king . Leopold was appointed court secretary by the king. Carl Michael Bellman dedicated one of his most beautiful songs to Leopold ( Hvila vid denna källa , Fredman's epistle no. 82).
In addition to poems, Leopold also wrote dramas, short stories and hymns.
Leopold managed to assert himself under various regimes. After the murder of Gustav III. He was equally well respected under the subsequent guardianship government under Duke Carl and Baron Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm as well as under the sole rule of King Gustav IV Adolf and the constitutional monarchy after the coup of 1809.
In 1801 Leopold wrote a standard-setting text on the spelling of the Swedish language on behalf of the Swedish Academy . In 1809 Leopold was involved in drafting the article on freedom of the press in the Swedish constitution. In the same year he was ennobled and took the name af Leopold. In 1821 he went blind.
Leopold remained true to the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment and French-influenced classicism throughout his life. This earned him the admiration of Tegnér , but the dislike of the romantics .
Esaias Tegnér aptly characterized Leopold in his poem on the 50th anniversary of the Swedish Academy:
- Och han som slöt the långa sångarraden
- oh lefde length för att sörja den,
- en rosenkrans med taggar mellan bladen,
- comfortable, skämtets, tankens, GUSTAVS vän.
- Han som bar kronan i de vittras gille,
- en lagrad veteran i Vettets sold,
- kanske ej främst som skald, men främst som snille
- som ville ädelt, customer hvad han ville,
- the blind Siaren TIRESIAS-LEOPOLD.
(And he who closed the long line of singers [from the time the Academy was founded] / and lived long enough to mourn them / a rosary with thorns between the leaves. / The friend of comfort, joke, thought , the friend of Gustav III. / He who wore the crown in the guild of the wise, / a laurel-crowned veteran in the service of knowledge / perhaps not the best as a poet, but the best as a spirit / who wanted something noble, and could what he wanted, / the blind seer Tiresias [an allusion to the blind seer Theresias from Greek mythology ] -Leopold.)
From 1786 Leopold was a member of the Kungliga Vetenskaps- och Vitterhetssamhället i Göteborg , from 1804 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and from 1814 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music .
Works
- Kärlekens Erics-Gata: Sanfärdig Roman. Upsala, 1778.
- Frigga. Opera i En Act. Stockholm, 1787. ( Digitized in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Library)
- Samlade scrifter. 3 vols. Stockholm, 1800–1802.
literature
- Torkel Stålmarck: Medelmåttan. En portrait of Carl Gustaf af Leopold. Stockholm 2005
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leopold, Carl Gustaf af |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Leopoldt, Carl Gustaf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish poet and man of letters |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1756 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stockholm |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 9, 1829 |
| Place of death | Stockholm |