The De Geer family (, ; also: De Geer van Jutphaas and De Geer van Oudegein) is a prominent industrial family of Walloon origin that belongs to the Swedish and

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class consisting of individuals or families recognised as nobility, noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Con ...

History

The name derives from the town of Geer near

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

(in present-day Belgium). The oldest known ancestor, Lambier de Geer, lord of Gaillarmont, died in 1399 in Liège, then part of the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...

. His descendant Louys de Geer (1535–1602) moved from Liège to

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and later to

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

for religious reasons. Subsequent generations became notable in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

from the early 17th century, mainly centered on the iron-foundry company town

Finspång Finspång () is a locality and the seat of Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,440 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Finspång is a traditional industrial town. The first industries were established in 1580 when a Royal fac ...

, but often extending to science, art and national politics. The larger, Swedish branch of the family retained its contacts with the Netherlands. Some of them hold the title of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. Both branches are still in existence.

Notable members

* Louis De Geer (1587–1652), Walloon financier and industrialist, founder of the Swedish branch. * , industrial entrepreneur. *

Charles De Geer Charles De Geer (30 January 1720 – 7 March 1778) was an entomology, entomologist, industrialist, civil servant and book collecting, book collector. He is sometimes referred to as Charles the Entomologist, to distinguish him from other relati ...

(1720–1778), Swedish entomologist. * , Swedish politician * (1748–1803), Swedish

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

member * (1750–1820), Finnish

lantmarskalk Lantmarskalk, (; ) was the title of one of the speakers of the Sweden, Swedish Riksdag of the Estates, from 1627 to 1866 and of the Diet of Finland, Diet of Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906. The Lantmarskalk was appointed by the Swedish nobi ...

of the Noble estate at the Diet of Porvoo. * Charlotta Aurora De Geer (1779–1834), Swedish salonist. * (1781–1861), Swedish

of 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 ...

* (1784–1857), Dutch politician. * Ulla De Geer (1793–1869), Swedish salonist. * (1816–1903), Dutch jurist and historian *

Louis Gerhard De Geer Baron Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång (18 July 181824 September 1896) was a Swedish statesman, lawyer and writer. He was the first Prime Minister of Sweden. Biography De Geer was born at Finspång Castle in Risinge parish, and was a member o ...

(1818–1896), Swedish statesman and writer, Prime Minister of Sweden 1876–80 * Karl Vilhelm Konstantin De Geer (1839–1904), Finnish general in the Imperial Russian arm

* Gerhard Louis De Geer (1854–1935), baron, Prime Minister of Sweden 1920–21 * Gerard De Geer af Finspång (1858–1943), Swedish geologist. *

Sten De Geer Sten De Geer was a Swedish professor of geography and ethnography. As son of geologist Gerard De Geer Sten was born into the Swedish nobility holding the title of baron. References {{DEFAULTSORT:De Geer, Sten 1886 births 1933 deaths ...

(1886–1933), Swedish geographer and ethnographer * Dirk Jan de Geer (1870–1960), prime minister of the Netherlands. * Louis De Geer (1910–1987), Swedish diplomat * (1927–1984), Swedish artist and portrait painter. Great-grandson of Louis Gerard De Geer. * Carl Johan De Geer (born 1938), Swedish artist. * (1946–2020), Dutch actor, director and television producer. * Boudewijn de Geer (1955–2024), Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, grandson of Dirk Jan de Geer. * (born 1971), Swedish nationalist and

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...

writer. * Mike de Geer (born 1989), Dutch

player, son of Boudewijn de Geer.

References

Literature

*Nederland's Adelsboek 83 (1993), pp. 42–86. {{Authority control Geer Geer