Count Gustaf Philip Creutz (; 1 May 1731 in Anjala,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

– 30 October 1785 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 ...

), was a

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 ...

statesman, diplomat and poet.

Biography

Creutz was born in

and after concluding his studies at the Royal Academy of Turku he received a post in the Privy Council Chancery at

in 1751. Here he met Count

Gustaf Fredrik Gyllenborg Count Gustaf Fredrik Gyllenborg (25 November 1731 – 30 March 1808) was a Swedish writer. Gustaf Fredrik Gyllenborg was born in Suinstad, Östergötland and died in Stockholm. He was one of the leading lights of Tankebyggarorden (Order of th ...

, with whom his name is indissolubly connected. They were closely allied with

Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht ( Stockholm, Sweden, 28 November 1718 – Stockholm, Sweden, 29 June 1763) was a Swedish poet, feminist and salon hostess. Biography She was the youngest of five children of the wealthy official Anders Ander ...

, and their works were published in common; to their own generation they seemed equal in fame, but posterity has given the palm of genius to Creutz. His greatest work is contained in the 1762 volume, the idyll of ''Atis och Camilla''; the exquisite little

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

entitled ''Daphne'' was published at the same time, and Gyllenborg was the first to proclaim the supremacy of his friend. In 1763, Creutz practically closed his poetical career; he went to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

as ambassador, and after three years to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in the same capacity until May 1783, and it was during this time that Creutz met with the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...

in Paris at the time,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. Creutz and Franklin drafted the first Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two nations. In 1783, King

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

recalled him and heaped honours upon him, but he died soon after. In 1784, he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) 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 ...

. ''Atis och Camilla'' was long the most admired poem in the

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...

; it is written in a spirit of pastoral which is now to some degree faded, but in comparison with most of the other productions of the time it is freshness itself. Creutz introduced a melody and grace into the Swedish tongue which it lacked before, and he has been styled the last artificer of the language.

References

* This work in turn cites: ** ''Creutz och Gyllenborgs Vitterhetsarbeten'' (Stockholm, 1795)

Biography

See also

References

Further reading