Louis De Geer (politician, 1818)

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Louis De Geer

Baron Louis Gerard De Geer von Finspång (born July 18, 1818 in Finspång , † September 24, 1896 in Hanaskog, Skåne County ) was a Swedish politician , writer and first Prime Minister of Sweden (Sveriges State Minister).

Family, studies and professional career

De Geer came from the influential Louis de Geer family from Wallonia , who settled in Sweden in the 17th century and who also came from the zoologist and entomologist Carl De Geer . His son Louis De Geer was also Prime Minister for a short time.

De Geer himself graduated from 1836 to study law at Uppsala University , which he finished with the exam in 1840, and then settled as a lawyer. In 1855 he was appointed President of the Götaland Court of Appeal (Göta Hovrätt) in Jönköping . He held this office until 1858.

From June 3, 1870 to May 11, 1875 he was finally President of the Court Court ( Svea hovrätt ) of Stockholm .

Political career

Deputy, Minister and founder of the new Reichstag

De Geer in a contemporary newspaper caricature as St. George smashing the state Reichstag depicted as a four-headed dragon (from: Emil Hildebrand, Sveriges historia intill tjugonde seklet , 1910)

De Geer began his political career in 1851 when he was first elected a member of the Reichstag of the Estates. This was an assembly that consisted of four chambers, each of which represented one of the four estates ( nobility , clergy , citizens and peasants ).

On April 7, 1858, he was appointed Minister of Justice for the first time by King Oskar I. , an office that was created in 1809 and, alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was responsible for running government affairs. He then held this office until June 3, 1870.

His most important task in this office was the renewal of the parliamentary system . In December 1865, the Reichstag voted the stands to his reform, the dissolution of the Diet of the stands in favor of a time of two chambers ( lower house , upper house ) existing Reichstag envisaged. This reform was approved by King Charles XV on June 22, 1866 closed, so that the new Reichstag could be elected for the first time in the following year. De Geer was a member of the Reichstag from 1867 to 1878, where he represented the interests of Stockholm and, at the same time, as Minister of Justice, presented several other reform bills.

First Prime Minister of Sweden

On May 11, 1875, the very popular politician was reappointed Minister of Justice by King Oskar II .

After a government reform, he became the first Prime Minister of Sweden on March 20, 1876 (Sveriges State Minister) . On April 19, 1880, he resigned from the office of Prime Minister, after which he had to accept a vote defeat because of his army and tax reform. He was succeeded by the previous Speaker of the House of Commons, Arvid Posse .

As a politician, he was an advocate of free trade and economic liberalism , which led to strong economic growth in Sweden.

Writer and University Rector

Because of his great commitment, he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1862 , where he occupied the 17th chair until his death, to which Hjalmar Hammarskjöld and Dag Hammarskjöld , among others , were later appointed. In the same year he was also accepted as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . From 1859 he was a member of the Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Academies .

After retiring from politics, he was Chancellor of the Universities of Uppsala and Lund from 1881 to 1888 .

In addition, De Geer was also active as a writer who wrote several novels and essays :

  • Hjertklapp einen pa Dalwik . Stockholm 1841
  • Carl den Folstes page . Stockholm 1845.

Far more important, however, were his political biographies (Minnesteckning):

literature

personal data
SURNAME De Geer, Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES De Geer from Finspång, Louis Gerard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish politician, writer and first Prime Minister of Sweden (Sveriges State Minister)
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Finspång
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1896
Place of death Hanaskog, Skåne County