Per Abraham Örnsköld

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Per Abraham Örnsköld (November 18, 1720 – April 16, 1791) was a Swedish count.

In 1762 he was appointed county governor of Västernorrland County, which at that time included the Swedish provinces of Medelpad, Ångermanland and Jämtland, making it quite large.

Örnsköld realized the possibilities of the area, and often travelled through it, by foot or with a carriage. He used his knowledge about agriculture and city planning to found new towns when old towns were overcrowded, and he helped the farmers trench dikes, which they had previously not had faith in. His main goal was to improve the agriculture.

He introduced the potato plant, and the flax, which quickly became popular.

He made sure that stones were removed from fields, he organized maps of the areas, opened pharmacies, and many other things that helped the inhabitants.

In the Riksdag council in 1769, some men had taken offense at his self-decided reforms, which appeared to be made to glorify himself, and accused him publicly of various incorrect actions. It led to him being transferred the same year to the county of Nyköping.

He was once again accused of various incorrect and unlawful actions in his county in 1771, but seems to have escaped without punishment.

The county he first governed, Västernorrland, has honoured his memory with various publications. The town Örnsköldsvik was also named after him when it was founded in 1842.