Hans Järta (originally Hans Hierta) (11 February 1774 – 6 April 1847) 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 ...

administrator, revolutionary and philosopher. He helped overthrow Gustavus IV Adolphus in the

Coup of 1809 The Coup of 1809 ( sv, Statskuppen 1809) also referred to as the Revolution of 1809 (Swedish: ''Revolutionen 1809'') was a Swedish coup d'état by a group of noblemen led by Georg Adlersparre. The coup resulted in the deposition of King Gustav I ...

and was one of the main drafters of the 1809 constitution of Sweden. From 1812 to 1822 he was County Governor of Kopparberg County. His

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

philosophy has given him the nickname "Sweden's

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

Early life

Hans Hierta was born at Näs kungsgård, Husby, in the province of

Dalecarlia Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norway ...

. His parents, who belonged to the Swedish nobility, the Hierta family, were

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Carl Hierta and Maria Charlotta von Plomgren. In 1778, Carl Hierta ran into financial trouble, left active military service and moved with his household to Lagmansholm in

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

; Hans was sent to live with his father's friend Johan Beck-Friis who was the County Governor of Dalecarlia, and who became Hans Hierta's foster father. In 1783, at the age of nine, Hierta was enrolled in a school in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

. He did not attend secondary school but began his university studies at

Uppsala university Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

in 1787. He studied theology (a mandatory subject at the time), history, and languages, and graduated in 1791.

Career

After graduating from university, Hierta started working as a minor official for the royal administration. He was present at the masked ball in 1792 where King

Gustav III 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 ...

was assassinated, and in the aftermath of the murder he was questioned but never accused of being part of the conspiracy against the king. He did, however, have a cautiously positive attitude to a more democratic form of government, and in 1800, he renounced his noble rank. In August 1800, Gustavus IV Adolphus rescinded Hierta's right to a noble name and arms, and he changed the spelling of his last name to Järta. In 1828, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

References

1774 births 1847 deaths Members of the Swedish Academy Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Burials at Uppsala old cemetery {{Sweden-politician-stub Hans