Gustaf Elis Fischer (13 January 1834 – 19 August 1889) was a Swedish

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, served as the chief executive of

Skandia Skandia is a Swedish financial services corporation that provides insurance, banking and asset management services. Between 2006 and 2015, the financial group underwent major changes. From an insurance company with the main emphasis on non-l ...

from 1870 to 1886, and was a Member of Parliament. He is remembered for the Fischer trial, during which he faced accusations of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

and received a prison sentence.

Early life

Gustaf Elis Fischer was born on 13 January 1834 in

Askersund Askersund is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Askersund Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population census of 3,887 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Askersund is a popular tourist destination with swimming and nature ...

, Sweden. His father, Per Gustaf Fischer, was a

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, and his mother was Eva Sophia Fischer (née Brattström). Fischer had two younger full brothers, Emil Nicanor (1839–1912) and Alfred Theodor (1836–1839). His maternal grandfather was Magnus Brattström, an

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a larg ...

. After his father's death in 1845, Fischer moved to

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

with his mother and brother. He completed his education at an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

in Askersund and graduated from Karolinska elementarläroverket in Örebro in 1854. Following his graduation, Fischer enrolled at

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 ...

and successfully passed the court exams in 1859.

Business career

Fischer had already started working at Skandia in 1862, and assumed the role of chief executive manager at Skandia, succeeding Wilhelm Dufwa in June 1870. However, in 1886, he was replaced by Gustaf Lagerbring amid allegations of fraud. These accusations stemmed from Fischer's difficulty in maintaining a clear separation between his personal and his workplace finances. He was known for being a loyal follower of Wallenberg and acted as a trustee for

André Oscar Wallenberg André Oscar Wallenberg (19 November 1816 – 12 January 1886) was a Swedish banker, industrialist, naval officer, newspaper tycoon, politician and a patriarch of the Wallenberg family. In 1856 Wallenberg founded the Stockholms Enskilda Bank, ...

. Fischer also played a role in establishing the Skandia building at

Mynttorget Mynttorget (, "the Coin Square") is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Setting From the square the bridge Stallbron leads over to the Parliament island Helgeandsholmen; to the west the street Myntgatan l ...

Political career

In March 1886, Fischer was appointed as a member of Första kammaren for a period of nine years, following his election by the City of Stockholm's municipal council on 22 March that year. He served in this role until December 1886 when he faced accusations of fraud. In response to these allegations, he resigned from his political positions, including relinquishing his mandate, on 17 December 1886.

Other efforts

Fischer held membership in the Insurance Organization, the Fire Insurance Tariff Organization, and also was a member of the Widow conservation.

Family

In 1864, Fischer married Hildur Fredrika Abenius (1843–1926), whose father was Carl Fredrik Abenius. They had children and lived at Edsby Castle, north of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Fischer had it built as a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

-like building. On 19 August 1889 Fischer died at Långholmen Prison in Stockholm.

Appointments

* Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

. *

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 ...

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Elis People from Askersund Municipality Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Independent politicians in Sweden Swedish bankers Swedish people of Finnish descent 1834 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Swedish politicians 19th-century Swedish lawyers Swedish fraudsters Members of the Första kammaren Swedish politicians convicted of crimes Politicians convicted of fraud Uppsala University alumni 19th-century Swedish landowners Swedish prisoners and detainees Knights of the Order of Vasa Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Deaths from pneumonia in Sweden Directors of Skandia