Anders Ljungstedt (; 23 March 1759 – 10 November 1835) was a Swedish merchant and historian.

Early career

Ljungstedt was born to a poor family in

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

and attended

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

for a time, but was forced to withdraw for lack of funds. In 1784, he went to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, where he worked as a teacher for ten years. Following his return to Sweden, he obtained employment in the Swedish government and served as

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

interpreter for king

Gustav IV Adolf Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 180 ...

during his journey to Russia.

Career in Macau

Ljungstedt was later hired by the

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company (; SOIC) was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with India, China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East India Company and the British Ea ...

, but after it folded, he moved to

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, where he resided for the rest of his life working as a merchant. The King of Sweden later made him a Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

, and in 1820 he was also appointed Sweden's first

consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Ljungstedt took great interest in the

history of Macau Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. It was leased to Portugal in 1557 as a trading post in exchange for a symbolic annual rent of 500 tael. Despite remaining under Chinese sovereignty and authori ...

and he is famous for being the first Westerner to refute the Portuguese claim that the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

had formally ceded sovereignty over

. Ljungstedt never returned to his native country and was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Macau. Today, a in Linköping bears his name and an avenue in Macau (Avenida Sir Anders Ljungstedt, 倫斯泰特大馬路, pinyin Lúnsītàitè dàmǎlù) was named in his honor in 1997 by the local Portuguese government.

Sources

Short biographic sketch from Projekt Runeberg

Work

*Ljungstedt, Anders. ''An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China, and of the Roman Catholic Church and Mission in China; a Supplementary Chapter, Description of the City of Canton.'' Boston: James Munroe & Co., 1836. Reprint, Hong Kong: Viking Hong Kong Publications, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungstedt, Anders 1759 births 1835 deaths People from Linköping History of Macau 19th-century Swedish historians Knights of the Order of Vasa Swedish merchants Swedish emigrants Immigrants to the Portuguese Empire People from Portuguese Macau 18th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesspeople Swedish expatriates in the Russian Empire