Baron Johan Gustaf Nils Samuel Åkerhielm af Margaretelund (24 June 1833 – 2 April 1900) was a Swedish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, a baron, a landowner, member of the Riksdag from 1859 to 1866 and from 1870 to 1900, a

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1874 to 1875, a

minister for foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in 1889, and a

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

from 1889 to 1891. He was married to Ulrika Gyldenstolpe in 1860, with whom he had three children.

Biography

Gustaf Åkerhielm was born in Stockholm, son to Swedish cabinet member Gustaf Fredrik Åkerhielm and his wife, Elisabeth Sophia Anker. After diplomatic service in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, he had a successful political career, where he had a long succession of different positions in the government from a

from 1874 to 1875. In 1889 he was appointed to the position of

by Gillis Bildt, and in October of the same year, he became the new prime minister of Sweden. Åkerhielm sought to solve military defense issues, but his efforts were blocked because of opposition in the Lower House of the Swedish Parliament. However, he was able to remain in power due to support he had in the Upper House. In 1891, he was nevertheless forced to resign after an careless reply to a question about defense, which was interpreted as a war-like threat against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The exact wording of his statement was unclear, but those who were present said the statement was, more or less, that "a new order for the Army will allow us to speak Swedish with Norwegians." He died on 2 April 1900 in Stockholm.

References

External links

* 1833 births 1900 deaths Politicians from Stockholm People from Uppland Members of the Riksdag Prime Ministers of Sweden Swedish Ministers for Finance Swedish Ministers for Foreign Affairs Barons of Sweden 19th-century Swedish politicians {{Sweden-politician-stub