Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

Eric Stanislaus (or Stanislaus Eric) Stenbock ( – ) was a

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.

Life

Stenbock was the count of Bogesund and the heir to an estate near

Kolga Kolga () is a small borough () in Kuusalu Parish, Harju County, in northern Estonia, on the territory of Lahemaa National Park. It has a population of 490 (). Kolga is best known for its classicist Classics, also classical studies or Anci ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. He was the son of Lucy Sophia Frerichs, the daughter and heiress of Johann Andreas Frerichs, a

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

cotton tycoon, and Count Erich

Stenbock The Stenbock family is an old Swedish noble family, of which one younger branch established itself in Finland and another younger branch in Estonia, both of them in the mid 18th century, of which the first was entered into the rolls of the Finni ...

, of a distinguished Swedish noble family of the Baltic German House of nobility in Reval. The family rose to prominence in the service of King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

Catherine Stenbock Catherine Stenbock (Swedish: ''Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock''; 22 July 1535 – 13 December 1621) was Queen of Sweden from 1552 to 1560 as the third and last wife of King Gustav I. Early life Catherine Stenbock was born on 22 July 1535 i ...

was the third and last consort of Gustav Vasa and

Queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

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 ...

between 1552 and 1560. Stenbock's great-grandfather was Baron

Friedrich von Stuart Baron Friedrich von Stuart (1761-1842) was a Courland nobleman and landowner. He was married to Henrietta Kant (1783–1850), a niece of Immanuel Kant. They are ancestors of Count Eric Stenbock, the ambassador Henning von Wistinghausen, Baron Dmi ...

(1761–1842) from Courland.

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

was a great-great-granduncle of Stenbock. Stenbock's father died suddenly while he was one year old; his properties were held in trust for him by his grandfather Magnus. Eric's maternal grandfather died while Eric was quite young, also, in 1866, leaving him another trust fund. Stenbock attended

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

but never completed his studies. While at Oxford, Eric was deeply influenced by the homosexual

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

artist and illustrator

Simeon Solomon Simeon Solomon (9 October 1840 – 14 August 1905) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites who was noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. His career was cut short as a result of public scandal following h ...

. He is also said to have had a relationship with the composer and conductor

Norman O'Neill Norman Houston O'Neill (14 March 1875 – 3 March 1934) was an English composer and conductor of Irish background who specialised largely in works for the theatre. Life O'Neill was born at 16 Young Street in Kensington, London, the youngest son ...

and with other "young men". In Oxford, Stenbock also converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

taking for himself the name Stanislaus. Some years later Eric also admitted to having tried a different religion every week in Oxford. At the end of his life, he seemed to have developed a syncretist religion containing elements of Catholicism,

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

. In 1885 Count Magnus died, upon which Stenbock, as the oldest living male relative, acceded to the status of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and to the possession of the family's estates in Estonia. Eric traveled to and lived in Kolga for a year and a half; he returned to England in the summer of 1887, during which time he sank deeper into

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. Stenbock behaved eccentrically. He kept snakes, lizards, salamanders and toads in his room, and had a "zoo" in his garden containing a reindeer, a fox, and a bear. When he traveled, he invariably brought with him a dog, a monkey, and a life-sized doll. This doll he referred to as "le Petit Comte" ("the little Count") and told everyone that it was his son; he insisted it be brought to him daily, and—when it was absent—he asked about its health. (Stenbock's family believed an unscrupulous Jesuit had been given large amounts of money by the Count for the "education" of this doll.)

Work

Stenbock lived in England most of his life, and wrote his works in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. He published a number of books of verse during his lifetime, including ''Love, Sleep, and Dreams'' (1881) and ''Rue, Myrtle, and Cypress'' (1883). In 1894, Stenbock published ''The Shadow of Death'', his last volume of verse, and ''Studies of Death'', a collection of short stories.

Death

On 26 April 1895 Stenbock died from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

of the liver at his mother's home, Withdeane Hall, near Brighton; his death went unnoticed in the press, aside from a brief mention in ''The Times'' (30 April 1895). Stenbock had named

More Adey William More Adey (1858 – 29 January 1942) was an English art critic, editor and aesthete. He was a co-editor of ''The Burlington Magazine'', but is perhaps best known for having been a friend and member of the inner circle of Oscar Wilde ...

as his literary executor. On 1 May the burial service was held in the Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery.

Legacy

The band

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, founded in 1982 by David Tibet. Much of Current 93's early work was similar to late 1970s and early 1980s industrial music: abrasive tape loops, droning synthesizer noises and Tibet's distorte ...

made an album of the same name of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

inspired by Stenbock's ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' story. Stenbock's legacy is supported by the invitation-only Stenbock Society, notable like Stenbock himself for its infrequent activity.

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

and Michael Cashmore released the two-track CD ''Gabriel & The Lunatic Lover'' in 2008 with two songs based on Stenbock's poems by the same name. This was followed in 2011 by the album '' Feasting with Panthers'' which included two more adaptations, "Sonnet XI" and "The Song of the Unwept Tear". All four poems were adapted and translated by

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers. He was the hitt ...

. Strange Attractor Press published a collection of Stenbock's short stories, poems and essays, ''Of Kings and Things'', in 2019.

Works

Poetry

* ''Love, sleep & dreams : a volume of verse''. - Oxford : A. Thomas Shrimpton & Son ; Simpkin Marshall & Co, 1881? * ''Myrtle, rue and cypress : a book of poems, songs and sonnets''. - London : rivately printed byHatchards, 1883 * ''The shadow of death : poems, songs, and sonnets''. - London : The Leadenhall Press, 1893

Short story collections

* ''Studies of death : romantic tales'' (London : David Nutt, 1894)

Biographies and other

* Adlard, John. ''Stenbock, Yeats and the Nineties ; with an hitherto unpublished essay on Stenbock by Arthur Symons and a bibliography by Timothy d'Arch Smith''. - London : Cecil & Amelia Woolf, 1969 * Costelloe, Mary. ''Christmas with Count Stenbock'' / dited byJohn Adlard ; frontispiece by Max Beerbohm. -London : Enitharmon, 1980. - Contains letters by Mary Costelloe * Reed, Jeremy. ''A hundred years of disappearance : Count Eric Stenbock''. - reat Britain? : J. Reed, 1995

References

External links

A Secret Kept: A Brief Life of Count Stenbock
*Gay and lesbian preservationists' concern fo

in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England
Kolga
contains a picture of the Stenbock ancestral estate in Estonia
"The Other Side: A Breton Legend"
(full text) *
Eric Stenbock as a main character in the fiction at The Criterion, June 2017
(full text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stenbock, Eric 1860 births 1895 deaths Deaths from cirrhosis German gay writers People from the Governorate of Estonia 19th-century Estonian poets Estonian male poets People of Baltic German descent Estonian nobility Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Accidental deaths in England German male poets 19th-century German poets 19th-century German male writers Alcohol-related deaths in England Weird fiction writers