Louis Gerhard De Geer

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Baron Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång (18 July 1818 – 24 September 1896) was a Swedish statesman, lawyer and writer. He was the first Prime Minister of Sweden.

Biography

De Geer was born at

According to his Minnen ("Memoirs") he considered himself a Liberal, in sympathy with universal suffrage. He never tried, however, to introduce legislation which he deemed impossible to get through the Riksdag.

Architect of the New Riksdag

De Geer's greatest political achievement was the reform of the Swedish representative system. The reforms introduced a bi-cameral elected Riksdag replacing the existing cumbersome and less democratic Riksdag of the Estates, a hangover from the

First Prime Minister

In 1876 De Geer became the first

Besides several novels and aesthetic essays, De Geer wrote a few political memoirs of supreme merit both as to style and matter, the most notable of which are Minnesteckning öfver A. J. v. Höpken (Stockholm, 1881); Minnesteckning öfver Hans Järta (Stockholm, 1874); Minnesteckning öfver B. B. von Platen (Stockholm, 1886); and his own Minnen (Stockholm, 1892), an autobiography, invaluable as a historical document, in which the political experience and the matured judgments of a lifetime are recorded with singular clearness, sobriety and charm. For example, his explanation of why he, at such a young age, was appointed Prime Minister of Justice, was that in the narrow circles of Swedish nobility at the time, it was difficult to find anyone with at least the mediocre intelligence which was needed for the office.

Membership in academies

De Geer was a member in the Swedish Academy from 1862, on Seat 17. In 1862, he was also elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Personal life

In 1848, De Geer married the

De Geer died on 24 September 1896 at his residence Hanaskog Castle in Scania.^[3] He is buried in the cemetery of Kviinge Church.^[4]

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "De Geer, Louis Gerhard, Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). pp. 931–932.