Louis Gerhard De Geer
| Louis Gerhard De Geer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st Prime Minister of Sweden | |
| In office 20 March 1876 – 19 April 1880 (4 years, 30 days) | |
| Monarch | Oscar II |
| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Arvid Posse |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 July 1818 Finspång, Östergötland, Sweden |
| Died | 24 September 1896 (aged 78) Hanaskog, Skåne, Sweden |
| Political party | Independent liberal |
Baron Louis Gerard De Geer of Finspång (18 July 1818 – 24 September 1896) was a Swedish statesman and writer.
De Geer was born at Finspång manor. He was a lawyer, and in 1855 became president of the Göta Hovrätt, or lord justice for the appellate court of Götaland. From 7 April 1858 to 3 June 1870 he was Prime Minister for Justice and again from 11 May 1875 to 20 March 1876. As a member of the nobility he took part in the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates from 1851 onwards. From 1867 to 1878 he was the member for Stockholm in the first chamber in the New Riksdag, and introduced and passed many useful reforms.
Architect of the New Riksdag
His 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 later Medieval Times. This measure was accepted by the Riksdag in December 1865, and received the royal sanction on 22 June 1866. For some time after this De Geer enjoyed considerable popularity. He retired from the ministry in 1870, but took office again, as Prime Minister of Justice in 1875.
First Prime Minister
In 1876 he became the first Prime Minister of Sweden[1] following a reform where the previous offices of Prime Minister for Justice (which he held at the time) and Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs where changed into Minister for Justice and a Minister for Foreign Affairs. He served until April 1880, when the failure of his repeated efforts to settle the armaments question again induced him to resign. From 1881 to 1888 he was Chancellor for the Universities of Uppsala and Lund. He was an advocate of free trade and economic liberalism and some argue laid the foundations for the strong economic growth in Sweden from 1870 to 1970.
Literary works
Besides several novels and aesthetic essays, De Geer has written 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.
Family
His son Louis De Geer was also prime minister of Sweden for a short period.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Robert Nisbet Bain (1911). "De Geer, Louis Gerhard, Baron". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Office established |
Prime Minister of Sweden 20 March 1876–19 April 1880 |
Succeeded by Arvid Posse |
| Cultural offices | ||
| Preceded by Anders Magnus Strinnholm |
Swedish Academy, Seat No.17 1862-1896 |
Succeeded by Pehr Jacob von Ehrenheim |
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