Jonas

Lidströmer Lidströmer is a Swedish noble family, originating from the village of Liden, Medelpad, Sweden. Knighted 3 October 1800 by King Gustav IV Adolf in Stockholm Palace, Sweden. Jonas Lidströmer (1755–1808) was nobilised on the grounds of his grea ...

(1755–1808) was a Swedish inventor and officer in the Swedish Navy. Lidströmer was born in 1755 at Lagfors bruk,

Medelpad Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northern ...

, and died 1808 in Stockholm. He was a ''colonel-mecanicus'', head of the mechanical state of the Royal Swedish-Finnish Navy, Royal Inventor and advisor to the king, Knight of 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 ...

and eventually knighted

(he was previously called Lidström).

Biography

He was the son of Jonas Lidström the Elder, (born 1713), and began his 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 spring 1771. Jonas Lidströmer has often been called Sweden's "mechanical genius" and is occasionally compared with

Christopher Polhem Christopher Polhammar (18 December 1661 – 30 August 1751) better known as Christopher Polhem (), which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the econom ...

, another notable Swedish inventor. He collaborated with

Fredrik Henrik af Chapman Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (9 September 1721 in Gothenburg – 19 August 1808) was a Swedish shipbuilder, scientist and officer in the Swedish navy. He was also manager of the Karlskrona shipyard 1782-1793. Chapman is credited as the world' ...

and went to Karlskrona with his help, the main base of the Swedish navy at the time. He also collaborated with the artists

Johan Tobias Sergel Johan Tobias Sergel (; 7 September 1740 in Stockholm – 26 February 1814 in Stockholm) was a Swedish neoclassical sculptor. Sergels torg, the largest square in the centre of Stockholm and near where his workshop stood, is named after him. Life ...

Louis Jean Desprez Louis Jean Desprez (occasionally but incorrectly ''Jean Louis Desprez'') (May 1743–18 March 1804) was a French painter and architect who worked in Sweden during the last twenty years of his life. Biography Desprez, who was born in Auxerr ...

and Ehrensvärd, and a letter correspondence with Carl Christopher Gjörwell has been preserved. The later well-renowned royal architect

Fredrik Blom Fredrik Blom (24 January 1781 – 25 September 1853) was a Swedish officer, architect and professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. Life Fredrik Blom was born in Karlskrona. His father was a compass maker journeyman. He began his career as ...

was one of Lidströmer's apprentices. He is primarily famous for the Obelisk at Slottsbacken adjacent to the

Stockholm Palace Stockholm Palace or the Royal Palace ( sv, Stockholms slott or ) is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch (King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia use Drottningholm Palace as their usual residence). Stockholm Pala ...

and the construction of

Norrbro Norrbro (Swedish for "North Bridge") is an arch bridge over Norrström in central Stockholm. It extends north from the northern front of the Royal Palace passing over Helgeandsholmen in front of the Riksdag building, and from there over to Gustav ...

– the bridge between the Royal Palace and the Opera in Stockholm – he was the architect for the southern part, but leader of the construction of the northern part as well. Lidströmer also erected the statue of 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 ...

with its pedestal and remodelled the quay building at

Slottsbacken Slottsbacken (, "Castle Slope") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It stretches east from the Stockholm Cathedral and the Royal Palace down to the street Skeppsbron which passes along the eastern waterfront o ...

. He also designed, constructed and built the famous at the naval harbour in Karlskrona. Lidströmer also constructed a series of harbours in Sweden and

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 ...

and improved the harbours of Gothenburg, Karlskrona and

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

. He was the head of the Mechanical School in Karlskrona, the most qualified technical institute at the time. He is credited with a number of mechanical devices and innovations, such as a horse-drawn grinding machine and lathe, new methods of moulding, and compasses. Lidströmer was the president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (of which he was a member from 1805), and member of several other academies such as the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...

and the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Krigsvetenskapsakademien) is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for m ...

. He was Knight of the Royal

. Several models and drawings of his work are present at a number of museums such as the

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the milita ...

and the

Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design ( sv, Statens centrum för arkitektur och design) or ArkDes, previously known as the Museum of Architecture (''Arkitekturmuseet''), is a Swedish national museum dedicated to architecture and design. I ...

in Stockholm, and the

Marinmuseum Marinmuseum (previously: Shipyard Museum, ''Varvsmuseet''; alternate: Naval Dockyard Museum; translation: Naval Museum) is a maritime museum located on Stumholmen island, in Karlskrona. It is Sweden's national naval museum, dedicated to the Swedish ...

in Karlskrona. He married Elisabeth Öhman and had six children. Two daughters and two sons survived to adulthood. His younger surviving son, Johan Nikolaus Lidströmer, who inherited the Allatorp property outside Karlskrona in

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...

, had children, but no grandchildren. Jonas Lidströmer's oldest surviving son,

Fredrik August Lidströmer Fredrik August Lidströmer (1787–1856) was the son of Jonas Lidströmer. He was a Swedish architect, artist and marine officer, as well as Stockholm's city architect. Raised in the naval city of Karlskrona, he came to Stockholm to help his f ...

(1787–1856) was Stockholm's City Architect and passed the name further to his oldest son Otto August Lidströmer, businessman in Stockholm. The younger son, Fredrik Lidströmer, who was an officer in the former Swedish colony of

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...

in the Caribbean did, however, not have any children. Otto August Lidströmer alone passed the name further to his only son Gustaf Lidströmer, a lawyer whose sister

Sigrid Lidströmer Sigrid Lidströmer (1866–1942), granddaughter of the architect Fredrik August Lidströmer, was a Swedish author, polemicist and translator. She wrote articles in the Swedish literary magazine '' Idun,'' wrote and translated songs,Lennart Reime ...

did not have any children, who in turn passed it to his only child Jonas (II) Lidströmer, a lawyer.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lidstromer, Jonas 1755 births 1808 deaths Swedish nobility 18th-century Swedish inventors Swedish Navy officers Uppsala University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Knights of the Order of Vasa Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences