Arvid Mauritz Posse (5 January 1792 – 22 July 1850) was a Swedish politician, count and Marshal of the Realm, who served as Prime Minister for Justice in 1840 and between 1846 and 1848.

Biography

Posse was born into a noble family, as the son of Count and

Lord of the Realm The Lord of the Realm (, ) was a title of honour introduced by Gustavus III, King of Sweden shortly after his coup and the newly passed constitution. The title was granted by the King and was first received by Frederick William, Prince von ...

Arvid Erik Posse and his wife, the baroness Catharina Charlotta von Otter. The family was of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

ic origin and belonged to the high nobility, having been raised to countship in 1706. Posse received his education at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

. He went on to work at

Göta Court of Appeal The Göta Court of Appeal (), located in Jönköping, is one of the six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. The court was established in 1634 during the regency of Queen Christina. It is the second oldest of the Swedish courts of appe ...

and later became an assessor at the

Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal (), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system, as well as the oldest Swedish court currently in use (the Supreme Court being constituted only in 1789, over 150 years later). It is loca ...

in 1816. Prior to his appointment as Prime Minister for Justice, Posse had served as governor of

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( ) was a Counties of Sweden, county of Sweden from 1634 until 1997. It was disestablished at the end of 1997 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus County, Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg County, Älvs ...

as well as director-general of the

Swedish Customs Service The Swedish Customs () is the customs service of the Kingdom of Sweden. It is a department of the Government of Sweden. It is one of the oldest governmental agencies in Sweden, as it was founded in 1636. It is also Sweden's ''de facto'' bord ...

. By 1840, Posse became known for his liberal positions in matters concerning

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

in the

Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates (; informally ) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King. It was a Diet made up of the Fou ...

and following the government resignation in 1840, the king had him appointed Prime Minister for Justice. This was done in order to ease the pressure from the liberal opposition. However, his term at the office become short and Posse was forced to resign later that same year. During the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

of 1845, Posse was appointed Marshal of the Realm. This eventually lead to him being appointed for a second time as Prime Minister for Justice in the government of 1846. Following the political turmoil after the March Unrest and due to popular protests against the government, Posse resigned from his office in 1848 along with his most of his cabinet. In 1849, due to his declining health Posse resigned as Marshal of the Realm and died the following year in Gothenburg. He was the uncle of Prime Minister Arvid Posse.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Posse, Arvid Mauritz 1792 births 1850 deaths Ministers for justice of Sweden 19th-century Swedish nobility Swedish counts Marshals of the Realm Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star 19th-century Swedish politicians Members of the Riksdag of the Estates People from Växjö Municipality Governors of Skaraborg County