Jacob Johan Anckarström the Elder (11 September 1729 - 6 April 1777) was a Swedish nobleman and colonel of the Anckarström family. He was a knight of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Or ...

(from 1761) and the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

(from 1775) and the father of the regicide

Jacob Johan Anckarström Jacob Johan Anckarström (11 May 1762 – 27 April 1792) was a Swedish military officer who is known as the assassin of King Gustav III of Sweden. He was convicted and executed for regicide. Life He was the son of Jacob Johan Anckarström the E ...

Life

Born at

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

, he was the son of Major Clas Anckarström and Brigita Charlotta Realize Stjerna. He was raised by his stepfather, a colonel Faber. He first joined the army aged 15, as a hantlangare in the artillery, and in 1745 travelled to France with lieutenant-colonel Leslie. He was immediately employed in the Swedish

Royal Suédois The Régiment de Royal Suédois ( en, Royal Swedish Regiment) was a foreign infantry regiment in the Royal French Army during the Ancien Régime. It was created in 1690 from Swedish prisoners taken during the Battle of Fleurus. The regiment event ...

regiment, rising to lieutenant aged 18 (in 1747) and wounded at the 1746 Siege of Namur. He returned to Sweden in 1748 and in 1750 (aged only 21) he was promoted to be a captain with the Nylands regemente. During the 1750s he was ordered to Sveaborg (

Suomenlinna Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finla ...

), then outside

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In 1757 he was sent to the

Pomeranian War The Pomeranian War was a theatre of the Seven Years' War. The term is used to describe the fighting between Sweden and Prussia between 1757 and 1762 in Swedish Pomerania, Prussian Pomerania, northern Brandenburg and eastern Mecklenburg-Schwerin. ...

, in which he was captured and held prisoner in

Demmin Demmin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Demmin. Geography Demmin lies on the West Pomeranian plain at the confluence of the rivers ...

. In 1759 his Prussian captors allowed him to leave captivity to go to Sweden to take up a legacy from his father, who had died that year. In 1760 he married Hedvig Ulrika Drufva, daughter of the governor Peter Drufva - they had three sons, including Jacob Johan the Younger. He died, aged 47, at Lindö sätesgård.

Sources

* Vilhelm Fredrik Palmblad: Biographiskt Lexicon öfver namnkunnige Svenska Män, v. 1 - 1835
s.180-183
1729 births 1777 deaths People from Uppland Swedish nobility Knights of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa Swedish military personnel of the Seven Years' War Age of Liberty people {{Sweden-mil-bio-stub