Louis Gerhard De Geer

For Louis Gerard De Geer's son, Gerard Louis De Geer, also a Prime Minister of Sweden, see Gerhard Louis De Geer.

Louis Gerhard De Geer
1st Prime Minister of Sweden
In office 20 March 1876 – 19 April 1880 ()
Monarch	Oscar II
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Arvid Posse
Minister for Justice
In office 20 March 1876 – 6 June 1879
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Ludvig Teodor Almqvist
Prime Minister for Justice
In office 7 April 1858 – 3 June 1870
Preceded by	Claës Günther
Succeeded by	Axel Adlercreutz
In office 11 May 1875 – 20 March 1876
Preceded by	Edvard Carleson
Succeeded by	None
Personal details
Born	Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång (1818-07-18)18 July 1818 Finspång Castle, Sweden
Died	Hanaskog Castle, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Political party	Independent liberal
Spouse(s)	Caroline Wachtmeister
Children	6
Parents	Gerhard De Geer Henriette Charlotte Lagerstråle
Residence	Hanaskog Castle

Baron Louis Gerard De Geer of Finspång (18 July 1818 – 24 September 1896) was a Swedish statesman and writer. De Geer was born at Finspång Castle in Risinge parish. He was a lawyer, and in 1855 became president of the Göta hovrätt, or lord justice for the appellate court of Götaland. 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 from 1851 onwards. From 1867 to 1878 he was the member for Stockholm in the first chamber in the New Riksdag, and introduced and passed many useful reforms.

Architect of the New Riksdag

His 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 Times. This measure was accepted by the Riksdag 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 he became the first Prime Minister of Sweden following a reform where the previous offices of Prime Minister for Justice (which he held at the time) and Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs where changed into Minister for Justice and a Minister for Foreign Affairs. He served until April 1880, when the failure of his repeated efforts to settle the armaments question again induced him to resign. From 1881 to 1888 he was Chancellor for the Universities of Uppsala and Lund. He was an advocate of free trade and economic liberalism and some argue laid the foundations for the strong economic growth in Sweden from 1870 to 1970.

Literary works

Besides several novels and aesthetic essays, De Geer has written 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 from 1862, on Seat 17. In 1862, he was also elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Family

His son Louis De Geer was also prime minister of Sweden for a short period.

File:De Geer as St George from Hildebrand Sveriges historia.jpg

De Geer in a contemporary newspaper caricature, depicted as St George fighting the four-headed dragon of the old four-chamber Riksdag of the Estates. From Emil Hildebrand, Sveriges historia intill tjugonde seklet (1910).

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

Political offices
Preceded by Office established	Prime Minister of Sweden 20 March 1876–19 April 1880	Succeeded by Arvid Posse
Cultural offices
Preceded by Anders Magnus Strinnholm	Swedish Academy, Seat No.17 1862-1896	Succeeded by Pehr Jacob von Ehrenheim

1. REDIRECT Template:Prime ministers of Sweden