Klas Hansson Bjelkenstjerna
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Baron Klas Hansson Bjelkenstjerna (also Claës Hansson Bjelkenstjerna or Bielkenstjerna) (24 April 1615 – 30 July 1662) 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 ...
naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...
and civil servant. HIs father, Hans Klasson Bjelkenstjerna, who also was a high-ranking naval officer, died when his son was only 5 years old, leaving him to be raised by relatives. Young Bjelkenstjerna soon grew up and followed in his father's footsteps, joining the Swedish navy. He rose in rank within the navy, being appointed skeppsmajor in 1641. He married baroness Barbro Åkesdotter Natt och Dag in 1643. He participated in the sea campaigns against the Danish and Dutch fleets, in particular Battle of Colberger Heide (1644), and the escape from the
Kiel Fjord Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...
where the Danish fleet tried to trap the Swedish squadrons. Due to his achievements in battle he was rewarded with a promotion to Admiral-Löjtnant. Years of relative peace followed, with Bjelkenstjerna entering civil service. In 1650, he was appointed to överhovmästare (tutor) for the crown prince Carl Gustav. Queen Christina I granted him the barony of
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in the
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region of
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. This occurred in the year 1652. The following year Bjelkenstjerna became a member of the Privy Council.


Trivia

* At his deathbed the Swedish king Carl X Gustav called upon his former tutor Admiral Bjelkenstjerna and supposedly bid him farewell with the words: ''»Farväl, min hederlige Bjelkenstjerna! Tack för hvar dag vi varit tillsammans!»'' which translates to English as ''"Farewell, my honourable Bjelkenstjerna! I'm thankful for each day that we spent together!"


References

* Nordisk familjebok, vol. 2 (1878), col
603f
(in Swedish) *

(in Swedish) 1615 births 1662 deaths Swedish nobility Swedish admirals {{Sweden-royal-stub