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 ...

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 The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

Biography

De Geer was born at Finspång Castle in Risinge parish, and was a member of the De Geer family. He was a lawyer, and in 1855 became president of the

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 ...

, or lord justice for the

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

. From 7 April 1858 to 3 June 1870 he was Prime Minister for Justice and again from 11 May 1875 to 20 March 1876. As a member of the nobility, he took part in the Swedish

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 ...

from 1851 onwards. From 1867 to 1878 he was the member for

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 ...

in the first chamber in the New Riksdag, where he introduced and passed many useful reforms. According to his ''Minnen'' ("Memoirs") he considered himself a Liberal, in sympathy with universal suffrage. He never tried, however, to introduce legislation which he deemed impossible to get through the Riksdag.

Architect of the New Riksdag

De Geer's greatest political achievement was the reform of the Swedish representative system. The reforms introduced a bi-cameral elected Riksdag replacing the existing cumbersome and less democratic Riksdag of the Estates, a hangover from the later Medieval period. This measure was accepted by 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 ...

in December 1865, and received the royal sanction on 22 June 1866. For some time after this De Geer enjoyed considerable popularity. He retired from the ministry in 1870, but took office again, as Prime Minister of Justice in 1875.

First Prime Minister

In 1876 De Geer became the first

following a reform where the previous offices of Prime Minister for Justice (which he held at the time) and Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs were changed into

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and a Minister for Foreign Affairs. He served until April 1880, when the failure of his repeated efforts to settle the

armaments A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

issue again induced him to resign. From 1881 to 1888 he was

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

for the Universities of

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

and

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. He was an advocate of

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 ...

and

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

. Some argue that it was De Geer who laid the foundations for the strong economic growth in Sweden from 1870 to 1970.

Literary works

Besides several novels and aesthetic essays, De Geer wrote a few political memoirs of supreme merit both as to style and matter, the most notable of which are ''Minnesteckning öfver A. J. v. Höpken'' (Stockholm, 1881); ''Minnesteckning öfver Hans Järta'' (Stockholm, 1874); ''Minnesteckning öfver B. B. von Platen'' (Stockholm, 1886); and his own ''Minnen'' (Stockholm, 1892), an autobiography, invaluable as a historical document, in which the political experience and the matured judgments of a lifetime are recorded with singular clearness, sobriety and charm. For example, his explanation of why he, at such a young age, was appointed Prime Minister of Justice, was that in the narrow circles of Swedish nobility at the time, it was difficult to find anyone with at least the mediocre intelligence which was needed for the office.

Membership in academies

De Geer was a member in the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

from 1862, on Seat 17. In 1862, he was also elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

Personal life

In 1848, De Geer married the

countess 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: ...

Carolina Lovisa Wachtmeister. They had three sons, of which the eldest, Gerhard Louis De Geer (1854–1935), was prime minister of Sweden from 1920 to 21 and the second was

Gerard De Geer Baron Gerard Jacob De Geer (20 November 1858 – 24 July 1943) was a Swedish geologist who made significant contributions to Quaternary geology, particularly geomorphology and geochronology. De Geer is best known for his work on varves. In 1890 ...

(1858–1943), a geologist.

Death

De Geer died on 24 September 1896 at his residence Hanaskog Castle in

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

. He is buried in the cemetery of Kviinge Church. De Geer as St George from Hildebrand Sveriges historia

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Geer, Louis Gerhard 1818 births 1896 deaths People from Finspång Municipality Members of the Första kammaren Members of the Swedish Academy Prime ministers of Sweden Ministers for justice of Sweden Swedish nobility Uppsala University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 19th-century Swedish politicians Swedish people of Belgian descent Louis Gerhard Members of the Riksdag of the Estates