Nils August Domingo Adlercreutz (8 July 1866 – 27 September 1955) was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

officer and

horse rider Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

who competed in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

Career

Adlercreutz was born on 8 July 1866 in Brunneby,

Motala Municipality Motala Municipality (''Motala kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Motala. In 1971 Motala Municipality was formed by the amalgamation of the ''City of Motala'' with some of t ...

, Sweden, the son of lieutenant Nikolas Adlercreutz and his wife countess Augusta (née Gyldenstolpe).

Career

Adlercreutz was commissioned as an officer in 1890 and was assigned as a ''

underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word ''Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 1926 ...

'' to the

Life Guards of Horse Life Guards of Horse ( sv, Livgardet till häst, K 1) was a Swedish Army cavalry regiment, first raised in 1770. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the Life Regiment Dragoons (K 2) to form the Life Regiment of Horse (K ...

(K 1) where he was promoted to lieutenant in 1896. Adlercreutz served as regimental quartermaster from 1904 to 1906 and as a teacher at the Swedish Army Riding and Horse-Driving School in

Strömsholm Strömsholm () is a locality situated, in the vicinity of Herrskogen, in Hallstahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden with 664 inhabitants in 2010. In Strömsholm is Strömsholm Palace, and from 1621 Strömsholm was a center of militar ...

from 1906 to 1908. The same year he was promoted to '' ryttmästare''. Adlercreutz was military attaché in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from 1912 to 1918 and was major in Scanian Dragoon Regiment (K 6) in 1914. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1917 and to colonel in 1918 and at the same time appointed commanding officer of Småland Hussar Regiment (K 4) in 1918. Adlercreutz was then commanding officer of the Scanian Dragoon Regiment from 1921 to 1927. He retired from the army the year after. In parallel to his military career, he also served as secretary of Stockholm Field Riding Club and as a judge at Ulriksdal's Racecourse.

1912 Summer Olympics

He and his horse ''Atout'' finished fourth in the individual eventing competition and won a gold medal with the Swedish team. He also finished sixth in the individual jumping with another horse ''Ilex''.

Personal life

In 1896 he married Ebba Cederschiöld (born 1873), the daughter of major Henrik Cederschiöld and Amelie Sterky. Adlercreutz and his wife had four children, including the son

Gregor Gregor is a masculine given name. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People * Gregor Abel (born 1949), Scottish footballer * Gregor Adlercreutz (1898–1944), Swedish equestrian * Gregor Aichinger (c. 1565–1628), Germ ...

, who also became an Olympic equestrian.

Death

Adlercreutz died on 27 September 1955 in

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 ...

and was buried at Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna.

Dates of rank

*1890 – ''

Underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word ''Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 1926 ...

'' *1896 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

*1908 – '' Ryttmästare'' *1914 –

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

*1917 –

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

*1918 –

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the Order of the Sword * SWE_Order_of_Vasa_-_Knight_2nd_Class_BAR

Knight of the Order of Vasa * King Gustaf V's Olympic Commemorative Medal

Foreign

Military Cross First Class * PRU_Non-combatant_ribbon

2nd Class of the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

EST_Order_of_the_Cross_of_Terra_Mariana_-_5th_Class_BAR

Knight 3rd Class of the Order of the Crown * Order_of_Saint_Anna_ribbon_bar

Knight 3rd Class of the

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Hol ...

Knight 1st Class of the Albert Order * Order of Franz Joseph - Ribbon bar (Knight)

Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph * Gold medal at the

1912 Olympic Games Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1923)

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adlercreutz, Nils 1866 births 1955 deaths People from Motala Municipality Swedish event riders Swedish show jumping riders Olympic equestrians for Sweden Swedish male equestrians Equestrians at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in equestrian Swedish Army colonels Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Commanders First Class of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Swedish military attachés Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Nils Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

Sportspeople from Östergötland County