Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Louis Gerard

De Geer The De Geer family (also: De Geer van Jutphaas and De Geer van Oudegein) is a prominent industrial family of Walloon origin that belongs to the Swedish and Dutch nobility. History The name derives from the town of Geer near Liège (in present ...

af Finspång (18 July 181824 September 1896) 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 ...

statesman and writer. He was born at

Finspång Castle Finspång Castle is situated in Finspång, the province of Östergötland, Sweden. Work on the castle was begun in 1666, by Louis De Geer (1587–1652). It is designed in the Architecture of the Netherlands Neo-Classical Architecture, Classicist s ...

in Risinge parish. He was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, and in 1855 became president of the

Göta hovrätt Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to: *Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer *Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast Other uses *Göta, Sweden * Göta älv, a river in Sweden * ...

, or lord justice for the appellate court of Götaland. From 7 April 1858 to 3 June 1870 he was

Prime Minister for Justice The Minister for Justice ( sv, justitieminister) is the justice minister of Sweden and head of the Ministry of Justice. The current Minister for Justice is Gunnar Strömmer of the Moderate Party. History The office was instituted in 1809 as a r ...

and again from 11 May 1875 to 20 March 1876. As a member of the nobility, he took part in the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates from 1851 onwards. From 1867 to 1878 he was the member for

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in the first chamber in the New Riksdag, where he introduced and passed many useful reforms.

Architect of the New Riksdag

De Geer's greatest political achievement was the reform of the Swedish representative system. The reforms introduced a bi-cameral elected

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 ...

replacing the existing cumbersome and less democratic Riksdag of the Estates, a hangover from the later Medieval Times. This measure was accepted by the

in December 1865, and received the royal sanction on 22 June 1866. For some time after this De Geer enjoyed considerable popularity. He retired from the ministry in 1870, but took office again, as

Prime Minister of Justice The Minister for Justice ( sv, justitieminister) is the justice minister of Sweden and head of the Ministry of Justice. The current Minister for Justice is Gunnar Strömmer of the Moderate Party. History The office was instituted in 1809 as a re ...

in 1875.

First Prime Minister

In 1876 De Geer became the first Prime Minister of Sweden following a reform where the previous offices of Prime Minister for Justice (which he held at the time) and

Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( sv, utrikesminister) is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Sweden), Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Tobias Billström of t ...

were changed into

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

and a Minister for Foreign Affairs. He served until April 1880, when the failure of his repeated efforts to settle the

armaments A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

issue again induced him to resign. From 1881 to 1888 he was

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

for the Universities of Uppsala and

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. He was an advocate of free trade and economic liberalism. Some argue that it was De Geer who laid the foundations for the strong economic growth in Sweden from 1870 to 1970.

Literary works

Besides several novels and aesthetic essays, De Geer wrote a few political memoirs of supreme merit both as to style and matter, the most notable of which are ''Minnesteckning öfver A. J. v. Höpken'' (Stockholm, 1881); ''Minnesteckning öfver

Hans Järta Hans Järta (originally Hans Hierta) (11 February 1774 – 6 April 1847) was a Swedish administrator, revolutionary and philosopher. He helped overthrow Gustavus IV Adolphus in the Coup of 1809 and was one of the main drafters of the 1809 cons ...

'' (Stockholm, 1874); ''Minnesteckning öfver B. B. von Platen'' (Stockholm, 1886); and his own ''Minnen'' (Stockholm, 1892), an autobiography, invaluable as a historical document, in which the political experience and the matured judgments of a lifetime are recorded with singular clearness, sobriety and charm. For example, his explanation of why he, at such a young age, was appointed Prime Minister of Justice, was that in the narrow circles of Swedish nobility at the time, it was difficult to find anyone with at least the mediocre intelligence which was needed for the office.

Membership in academies

De Geer was a member in the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

from 1862, on Seat 17. In 1862, he was also elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

Personal life

In 1848, De Geer married the countess Carolina Lovisa Wachtmeister. They had three sons, of which the eldest,

Gerhard Louis De Geer Baron Gerhard Louis De Geer of Finspång (usually known as Louis De Geer; 27 November 185425 February 1935) was a Swedish politician, who served in the first chamber of the ''Riksdag'' 1901–14, was governor of Kristianstad County 1905–23, an ...

(1854–1935), was prime minister of Sweden from 1920 to 21 and the second was Gerard De Geer (1858–1943), a geologist. De Geer died on 24 September 1896 at his residence

Hanaskog Castle Hanaskog Castle ( sv, Hanaskogs slott) is a manor house at Östra Göinge Municipality in Scania, Sweden. History In 1827, Hanaskog was sold to Count Carl Axel Wachtmeister (1795–1865), who owned the fideicommission Vanås. In 1852–1854, ha ...

in Scania. He is buried in the cemetery of

Kviinge Church Kviinge Church ( sv, Kviinge kyrka) is a medieval church in Kviinge, Östra Göinge Municipality, in the Skåne province of , Sweden. History The church dates from the late 12th century, when the nave, choir and apse were built. The tower was add ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Geer, Louis Gerhard 1818 births 1896 deaths People from Finspång Municipality Members of the Första kammaren Members of the Swedish Academy Prime Ministers of Sweden Swedish Ministers for Justice Swedish nobility Uppsala University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 19th-century Swedish politicians Swedish people of Belgian descent Louis Gerhard Members of the Riksdag of the Estates