Johan Henrik Kellgren

Johan Henrik Kellgren

Johan Henrik Kellgren (born December 1, 1751 in Floby ; † April 20, 1795 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish poet and man of letters and a leading exponent of the Swedish Enlightenment .

Life

Kellgren's father was a pastor. After attending grammar school, Kellgren studied at Åbo University , where he was appointed lecturer two years later. He also worked as a tutor. He became known as a collaborator, literary critic and temporary editor of the Stockholm newspaper Stockholms-Posten . Kellgren wasn't married.

Importance and effectiveness

Kellgren fought in numerous, often satirical poems for the ideas of the Enlightenment and fought against stupidity, superstition and fanaticism. His poems are distinguished by an elegant style. His great poem Ljusets fiender ( The Enemies of Light ) contains a brilliant account of the opponents of the Enlightenment: enthusiasts, deceivers, dogmatists, etc. Kellgren also wrote odes, love poems, essays and dramas.

For some time Kellgren was a close collaborator of King Gustav III. He wrote the Swedish-language libretti for Joseph Martin Kraus ' operas Proserpin (1781) and Æneas i Carthago (posthumously) based on his (French-language) prose drafts . Based on the king's draft for an opera Gustav Wasa , Kellgren developed another opera libretto, which was premiered in 1786 by Johann Gottlieb Naumann and was a great success. Gustav Wasa's aria Ädla skuggor, vördade fäder has long served as the unofficial Swedish national anthem. Kellgren was appointed royal secretary and was a founding member of the Swedish Academy , founded by the king in 1786 . After Gustav III. In 1789 the so-called förenings- och säkerhetsakten seized even more power than he was entitled to under the constitution, Kellgren retired, but retained his offices and titles.

In a poem published in 1778 ( Mina löjen , roughly: My Laughter), Kellgren directed sharp attacks against Carl Michael Bellman , whom he accused of glorifying sexual debauchery and drunkenness. However, Kellgren later changed his mind and wrote an extraordinarily respectful foreword to Bellman's collection of songs, Fredmans epistlar , published in 1790 . In return, Bellman dedicated one of his most beautiful songs to him ( Liksom en Herdinna , Fredman's epistle No. 80).

Esaias Tegnér pays homage to Kellgren in his hexameter poem Kronbruden as the greatest of all Swedish poets.

literature

• Göran Hägg: Den svenska literaturhistorien . Stockholm 1996.
• Johan Henrik Kellgren . In: Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson (eds.): Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon . 2nd Edition. tape 1 : A-K . Albert Bonniers Verlag, Stockholm 1906, p. 571 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

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