Count Georg Magnus Sprengtporten (russian: Егор Максимович Шпренгпортен, translit=Egor Maksimovič Šprengporten, ; sv, Göran Magnus Sprengtporten; fi, Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten, ; 16 December 1740 – 13 October 1819), was a

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...

politician, younger brother of

Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten Baron Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten (1727–1786) was a Swedish-Finnish army officer and politician, and half-brother of Georg Magnus Sprengtporten. He is most famous as one of the leaders of the Revolution of 1772, the ''coup d'état'' which ended ...

. Since he defected to Russia, he went down in

Swedish history The history of Sweden can be traced back to the melting of the Northern Polar Ice Caps. From as early as 12000 BC, humans have inhabited this area. Throughout the Stone Age, between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, early inhabitants used s ...

as a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

Early life

Sprengtporten was born in

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

( sv, Borgå),

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

( sv, Nyland), Kingdom of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

(now

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 ...

). He entered the army and rose to the rank of captain during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. He assisted his brother in the revolution of 1772, and in 1775 was made a colonel and brigadier of the Savolax brigade in east

. Here he distinguished himself greatly as an organizer and administrator. The military school which he founded at Haapaniemi (then Tuhkaniemi),

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

(1 August 1780 until 1 May 1781 when it was moved to Haapaniemi estate in

Rantasalmi Rantasalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, northwest of Savonlinna and northeast of Mikkeli. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density i ...

, where it operated until a transfer to

Hamina Hamina (; sv, Fredrikshamn, , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, reg ...

in 1819) subsequently became a state institution (

Hamina Cadet School The Hamina Cadet School and Finland Cadet School were the common names for the Fredrikshamn cadet school during the period 1819–1901. The Cadet School was founded in 1780 by Georg Magnus Sprengtporten at Kuopio and transferred in 1781 to Rantas ...

1779–81

Like his brother he also came to the conclusion that his services had not been adequately appreciated, and the flattering way in which he was welcomed by the Russian court during a visit to

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 ...

in 1779 still further incensed him against the perceived ingratitude of his own sovereign. For the next two years he was in the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

service, returning to Finland in 1781. Due in part to contacts with

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 ...

who was there contemporaneously he conceived of the idea of separating the grand duchy from Sweden. This aim was first approached through the

Walhalla-orden Walhalla-orden was a secret society founded in the early part of 1783 in the Sveaborg (today, in Finnish: Suomenlinna) fortress outside Helsinki, Finland by Johan Anders Jägerhorn along with Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm. It is thought to have been ins ...

subversive secret society and scheming with the king's brother,

Charles XIII of Sweden Charles XIII, or Carl XIII ( sv, Karl XIII, 7 October 1748 – 5 February 1818), was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 to his death. He was the second son (and younger brother to King Gustav III) of King Adolf Frederick of Sw ...

. This scheming was apparently stillborn, as Charles informed his brother of the schemers' approaches.

1786

The chosen Plan B was to establish an independent state under the protection of Russia. During the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

of 1786 he openly opposed

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 ...

, at the same time engaging in a secret and treasonable correspondence with the Russian ministers with the view of inducing them to assist his plans for an independent Finland by force of arms.

1788–1808

In the following year, at the invitation of

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, he formally entered the Russian service. When the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 began, Sprengtporten received the command of a Russian army corps directed against Finland. He took no direct part in the

Anjala conspiracy The Anjala conspiracy ( sv, Anjalaförbundet, fi, Anjalan liitto) of 1788 was a scheme by disgruntled Swedish officers to end Gustav III's Russian War of 1788–1790. Declaring Finland an independent state was not a part of the original plot, b ...

but urged Catherine to support it more energetically. His own negotiations with his fellow countrymen, especially after

had brought the treacherous army officers of the

back to their allegiance, failed utterly. Nor was he able to serve Russia very effectively in the field for he was seriously wounded at the

battle of Porrassalmi The Battle of Porrassalmi was a battle fought near the bight of Porrassalmi in Savonia on 13 June 1789, during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90). A Swedish force of about 750 men succeeded in stopping the northbound advance of a Russian force nu ...

1789. At the end of the war, indeed, his position was somewhat precarious, as the High Court of Turku condemned him as a traitor, while Catherine regarded him as an incompetent impostor who could not perform his promises. For the next five years, therefore 1793–1798, he thought it expedient to quit Russia and live at

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The his ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. He was re-employed by the emperor

Paul of Russia Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her l ...

who, in 1800, sent him to negotiate with

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

concerning the Maltese Order and the interchange of prisoners. After Paul's death Sprengtporten was again in disgrace for seven years, but was consulted in 1808 on the eve of the outbreak of hostilities with France. On 1 December 1808 he was appointed the first Russian

Governor-General of Finland The governor-general of Finland ( fi, Suomen kenraalikuvernööri; sv, generalguvernör över Finland; russian: генерал-губернатор Финляндии) was the military commander and the highest administrator of Finland sporadic ...

with the title of count, but was so unpopular that he had to resign his post the following year.

Retirement

The last ten years of his life were lived in retirement. Sprengtporten died in

in 1819.

Memorial stones

Georg Magnus Sprengtporten's Memorial stones are located in Harbour park (Satamapuisto) of

, near the

port of Kuopio The Port of Kuopio (Finnish: ''Kuopion satama'') is an inland harbour in the city of Kuopio, Finland, on the shore of Lake Kallavesi. The passenger harbour of the port is located in the Vahtivuori district on the ''Maljalahti'' bay. The cargo harb ...

and near the place where his military school was originally located. While staying in Teplice, Sprengtporten was in regular contact with the Count Waldstein's librarian,

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

. Their correspondence has been saved and is well known to scholars.

References

External links

Sprengtporten, Georg Magnus. The National Biography of Finland.
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprengtporten, Georg Magnus 1740 births 1819 deaths People from Porvoo Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish generals Finnish politicians Swedish military personnel of the Finnish War 18th-century Finnish military personnel 19th-century Finnish people Gustavian era people Governors of the Grand Duchy of Finland Finnish people from the Russian Empire Barons of the Russian Empire Counts of the Russian Empire Georg Magnus