Count Carl Gustaf Bonde af Björnö (28 April 1872 – 13 June 1957) was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

officer,

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

and

horse rider Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

who competed at the 1912 and 1928 Olympics.

Military career

Bonde was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden and was the son of landowner, count Gustaf ''Fredrik'' Bonde af Björnö and his English wife ''Ida'' Horatia Charlotta Marryat. After passing his ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968 ...

'' in 1892, Bonde became a sergeant in the Life Regiment Hussars (K 3) in 1893 and second lieutenant in 1894 and lieutenant there in 1900. He retired in 1908 and became cavalry captain in the reserve in 1910. The year before, in 1909, Bonde was appointed

Equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

the court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...

, and advanced in 1916 to

Crown Equerry The Crown Equerry is the operational head of the Royal Mews of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is responsible for the provision of vehicular transport for the Sovereign, both cars and horse-drawn carriages. Train tr ...

, a position he held for decades.

Sports career

Bonde was a prominent horse rider. In 1912 he won the gold medal in the individual dressage competition with his horse ''Emperor''. Sixteen years later he won the silver medal as a member of the Swedish team. He also competed in the 1928 Olympic individual dressage competition with his horse ''Ingo'' and finished 19th.

Other work

Bonde possessed a wide range of

entailed In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise aliena ...

estates, including

Vibyholm Castle Vibyholm Castle ( sv, Vibyholms slott) is a manor house at Årdala, Flen Municipality, Sweden. The main building is located on an island in Lake Båven. History Vibyholm was built between 1622 and 1630 in Dutch High Renaissance style under desi ...

and

Hörningsholm Castle Hörningsholm Castle ( sv, Hörningsholms slott) is a manor house and former castle in Sweden. It is located on a cliff by an inlet of the Baltic Sea some kilometres from Södertälje. The castle was most probably built by the Sture family during t ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

Katrineholm Katrineholm (pronunciation: or ) is a locality and the seat of Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 24,271 inhabitants in 2018. It is located in the inland of Södermanland and is the third largest urban area in the county ...

, Bordsjö, Askeryd and

Herrestad Herrestad is a locality situated in Uddevalla Municipality, Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of S ...

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

and

Sävstaholm Sävstaholm Castle (''Sävstaholms slott'') is a castle in Vingåker Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. the name is sometimes spelled Säfstaholm, which is according to old Swedish spelling rules. History The palace was built during 166 ...

and Toftaholm. He was a member of Halland County Rural Economy and Agricultural Societie's acquisition committee (''Hallands läns hushållningssällskaps förvärvsutskott'') and member of the Halland County

landstorm (plural ) was a form of militia (see ) and territorial defence force created in Sweden in 1885. It consisted of all conscripts who had completed their service, generally men between 33 and 40 years of age, as well as a smaller number immediately tr ...

. Bonde was an inspector of POW camps in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

from 1917 to 1918. He was chairman of the Stockholm Harness Horseman's Association from 1900 and chairman and vice chairman of the Swedish Equestrian Central Association in 1933–38. He served as a judge of equestrian competitions at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Personal life

Bonde was married and divorced twice. He was married 1896–1919 to Blanche Charlotte Eleonore Dickson (1875–1960), daughter of James Fredrik Dickson and Blanche Dickson. Bonde was married a second time 1920–1941 to Ebba Wallenberg (born 1896), daughter of the banker Marcus Wallenberg, Sr. and Amalia Hagdahl. In the first marriage he was the father of Chief of Army Thord Bonde and colonel Carl C:son Bonde, and in the latter Peder Bonde, chamberlain and active in the so-called Wallenberg sphere. Bonde's first wife Blanche Dickson inherited

Tjolöholm Castle Tjolöholm Castle ( sv, Tjolöholms slott) is a country house in Halland, Sweden. It is located on a peninsula in the Kungsbacka Fjord on the Kattegat coast. The manor house was designed by architect Lars Israel Wahlman (1870–1952) in a styl ...

and they lived there until their divorce in 1919.

Awards and decorations

Bonde's awards:

Swedish

King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal (1928) * SWE Order of Vasa - Knight 2nd Class BAR

Commander 2nd Class of the Order of Vasa * Order of the Sword - Ribbon bar

Knight of the Order of the Sword * King Gustaf V's Olympic commemorative medal (''Konung Gustaf V:s olympiska minnesmedalj'') * Medical Gold Medal (''Sjukvårdsguldmedalj'') (Swedish Red Cross)

Foreign

LVA Order of the Three Stars - Commander BAR

Grand Officer of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...

Knight 2nd Class of the

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Hol ...

Knight of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

Second Class * Palmes academiques Officier ribbon

Officer of the ''

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

'' *

Red Cross Medal First, Second and Third Class * OTT Order of the Crescent BAR

Order of the Crescent The Imperial Order of the Crescent ( ota, نشانِ خلال) was a chivalric order of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was instituted in 1799 by Sultan Selim III when he wished to reward Horatio Nelson, an Anglican Christian, for his vi ...

* Austrian Honour Decoration of the Red Cross, Second Class with decoration * Bulgarian War Commemorative Medal

Bibliography

References

External links

profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonde, Carl 1872 births 1957 deaths Swedish dressage riders Olympic equestrians of Sweden Swedish male equestrians Equestrians at the 1912 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in equestrian Military personnel from Stockholm Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Commanders Second Class of the Order of Vasa Sportspeople from Stockholm